Family
by Cogitor
Summary: Even hyenas can play detective if need be. It's the first murder the Clanlands have seen since the Rogue Wars, and it's up to Sal to figure out what happened before things get any worse.
1. Chapter 1

**Preface**

_The story that follows has its roots in another story of mine, namely "The Corrupter"; it's kind of a spin-off. However, I've written it so that you don't have to read before mentioned story to understand this one, given some background I will provide below._

_The curious thing is, however, that you do kind of have to read this story to understand "The Corrupter" (or at least one very small part of it)._

_The story takes place in the Pridelands at the beginning of Ahadi's reign (and the early days of Rafiki's shaman-career), when there was still a clan of hyenas living in what would later become part of the Pridelands. We follow one of that clan's members as he tries to keep the peace around his lands. Have fun reading!_

**One**

"Hello?"

"Anyone here? Rafiki?"

"Come down, monkey, we've got you a banana!"Makamu yelped jokingly. Obviously, Sal didn't approve of his brother-in-law's shenanigans; only he himself was allowed to approach the shaman that cordial.

"Shut your piehole. If you got problems, go home and badmouth your momma, but here, you show some respect for the Shaman."

"Jeez, sorry..."

"Who dares disturb my slumber?" A voice suddenly mumbled above the hyenas. Shortly thereafter, Rafiki himself unexpectedly swung down from one of the tree's branches, ending up facing his guests whilst he hung upside down.

"You know what, that actually sounded pretty cool, you should do that more often! A bit pompous, though..."

Rafiki cringed upon observing the hyena's crooked smile, not so much because he disliked him, but mostly because of the rather unpleasant odour emitting from the predator's mouth.

"Good afternoon, Sal..."

"You mean good morning, noon hasn't passed yet..."

"I know. That's cause you woke me up..."

"I did? Oh..." Sal grinned, striking a careful balance between sincerity and sounding like a jerk, "Sorry about that, I guess. Ifiggured you'd be up already, with you not being nocturnal and all..."

"I ain't. I just like sleeping out..."

"Well, regardless, you're awake now, so you could just as well help me out..."

"Wow, wait, wait..." Realizing he probably wouldn't get a chance to go back to bed, Rafiki let go of his tree and landed on the ground, landing behind the visitor. In stead of getting back to him, the Shaman took the time to stretch, trying to get most of the sleep out of his bones. "You come here, wake me up with all your noise, don't tell me what you came here for in the first place – and now you expect me to help you with... what exactly?"

"I didn't mention it yet?"

"Nope."

"You know what, it's a short walk from here, why don't I tell you on the way?"

* * *

"So you _suspect_ there's been some violence, huh?"

Sal snickered when he saw the look on Rafiki's face.

"Well, you know, I could have told you all about it, but that would have ruined the surprise!"

Quite honestly, Rafiki had indeed suspected there was going be more to this trip than Sal had let slip at first. Quite typical of him to have pulled this joke, really. Just to make sure he had seen it right, Rafiki looked up again, at the nearly leafless tree's upper branches. His mind hadn't fooled him: up in the tree was indeed a cheetah. And that was pretty peculiar because...

"Cheetah's don't climb trees..."

"And they don't have wings either, so go figure... And he isn't really moving, breathing or talking, so I'm guessing he's dead, and dead cheetah's don't go anywhere, up trees least of all," Sal noted sec, "I think someone put him up there, for some reason. But we won't know for sure until we get him down..."

"But since hyenas don't climb trees either, you want _me_ to do that, I get it..." Rafiki sighed.

"Please, my esteemed Shaman, you really shouldn't feel obliged..."

Whilst Rafiki and Sal had been talking, a small crown had gathered under the tree, all animals curious to see what all the ruckus was about. Their stares, along with the fact Sal had already awoken him just for this, made it clear Rafiki _did_ have to feel obliged.

"Yeah right... Wait here..."

The shaman took a quick look around, and was happy to see that there were, for the time being, no other cheetah's around; that would probably make Rafiki's task easier: no screams of indignation should he accidentally drop the corpse.

Upon arriving up in the tree, he was pleased to find that the cheetah hadn't stiffened entirely, although he was starting to get a bit rigid by now. He figured it'd be better to hurry up. The fact the body was remarkably light facilitated that, and in a matter of minutes Rafiki was back on the ground. He put the cheetah down carefully.

"You were right, he's dead."

"I figured so," Sal nodded as he crouched down near the carcass, now taking a more serious tone; a dead body up a tree is a novelty, but on the ground it becomes a tragedy.

"There are certainly more pleasant ways of starting your day."

"You said it. Poor sod..." The hyena nudged the cheetah's head sidewards, as to get a better look at his face, "This guy's still quite young... that's a shame..."

Rafiki thought his friend kept sitting next to the stiff a surprisingly long time.

"You all right, buddy?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm okay..."

"You're not turning soft, are you?" Rafiki taunted.

"Nope. Old, maybe. Soft, never."

"Old? You're not even my age yet!"

"Hush, you shouldn't joke around, someone died here."

"Whatever, Softy. Need some help from here on?"

"No, I think I'm good now, at least for what the dead guy is concerned... Or wait, one more thing." The hyena suddenly seemed to have remembered something, "Do you have any idea when he died?"

"Well, since a cheetah up a tree is guaranteed to catch the eye, I'd say last night; you'd have noticed earlier otherwise. And he hasn't stiffened out yet, so that too points to last night..."

"All right, that's all I needed to know. I'll handle it from here."

"Man, you're pretty calm about this... I mean... we did just get a dead cheetah out of a tree... Shouldn't you – and me – be a bit more worried about that?"

"Naaa... Too early for that... I'll try freaking out once I've got my lunch. Besides, nothing ever happens around here. Not to say I'm excited, but... you know..." Sal shrugged, "Well, anyway, thanks for the help."

"No problem, glad to be of service. I guess you'll spend the rest of the day figuring out what happened here?" Rafiki yawned involuntarily.

"Pretty much. It ain't easy, but it's doing the good work..."

* * *

"So, what killed him?"

"Eh..."

"We should have asked the baboon, he knows a lot more about this then you do..."

"Shut up, I know what I'm doing, all right?"

"Sure, whatever..."

"Look! See this? Broken neck, and teethmarks around his neck. I'm pretty sure that's what killed him. I can't see anything else that could have."

"What about those cuts all over his body?"

"No, I don't think those are lethal. I mean, I don't see any blood, slashed arteries or any of that stuff..."

"Where do you think he got those?"

"What, the cuts? I have no idea. Maybe someone scratched him..."

"I bet it were lions..."

"Yeah, save for the fact that lions don't climb trees. Or they don't climb quite as high. Anyway, I'm pretty sure it wasn't a lion..."

"So who was it then?"

"I dunno. A leopard? They got pretty nasty claws. And they climb trees... Yeah, let's go with leopard..."

"All right, so you know how he died. And that it was a leopard, probably. So... What do we do now?"

"I don't know, this is as new to me as it is to you. And stop asking those annoying questions. Now, give me a minute, all right?" Sal sat down with a muted groan, still staring at the cheetah-carcass. So he had gotten Rafiki to get the body out of the tree. Great. Too bad he hadn't thought any further than that. Makamu, Sal's brother in law and usually his right-paw-man, wasn't too much help either, just sitting around, getting on Sal's nerves.

"Come on man, hurry it up. You know I don't usually do the day-shift... I wanna go get some sleep."

"Like hell you are," Sal grumbled, "You're staying right here 'till I figure out what we're going to do now..."

"But it's the middle of the day! And this sun is killing me..."

"Well then I guess you'll be dying in the sun, sad day for you. See if I care," Growled Sal, trying to shut his companion up, "Besides, this is serious; someone was probably murdered here, you can afford to lose a little sleep over that..."

"Whatever," Makamu shrugged, "You just shout whenever you figured out what to do... I'll just be lying down, over there..."

"Great, I got to find the culprit to first murder in years, and the only one I've got to help me is my lousy, no good brother-in-law..."

"Hey, I heard that!"

One observing the above conversation might get the wrongful impression that Sal and Makamu didn't exactly get along. Although there's a grain of truth in that statement, their antagonism shouldn't be overestimated. They actually got along fine. It was just that Makamu was a bit grumpy, probably because he wasn't used to being awake during midday. And Sal was most likely being a bit more bossy than usual too, mostly because of the stress generated by the dead cheetah. Not that he didn't boss around Makamu otherwise, mind you: his rank in the clan was right above that one of his brother in law, corresponding to the rank of Mary relative to her younger sister, Makamu's partner.

"All right, you can stop complaining now, I figured out what we have to do," Sal suddenly blurted after a short silence.

"And that is...?"

"Well, I reckon that the first thing we'll have to do is get the word out there has been a murder, 'cause that's what it is, probably. We have to let Mary know, for starters. She'll relay the news to the matriarch, Agathe. From there on, I'm hoping they know the proper procedures that come with this kind of thing..."

"Sounds easy enough," Makamu yawned, "So that's all there is to it?"

"Well, no, we also have to..."

"Hey! Dudes!"

The two hyenas suddenly heard a screech coming from the sky, prompting them to look up. They quickly noticed two huge silhouettes above them, gently sliding their way to a nearby tree. It didn't take Sal and Makamu long to realize the vultures had arrived.

"Hi Sal, Maka!" one of the vultures yelled as he landed. Sal recognized him almost instantly; fellow scavengers get to know each other fairly quickly, for better or worse.

"Gin, Rummy..." the hyenas mumbled back, not all that enthusiast about the vultures' arrival; they'd probably make Sal and Makamu's work a lot harder for it.

"Say, Sal, that cheetah over there... He doesn't happen to be dead, does he?"

"Well, actually, yes..."

"Ha! See, I told you so! I'm never wrong. At least not at these kind of things," the vulture called Rummy grinned at his companion, "Now... I call dibs on the eyes!"

Suddenly, and much to Sal's dismay, the vulture shot forward towards the cheetah-carcass, followed closely by the other one.

"Yo, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Sal growled, as he too bolted forward, successfully chasing off the vultures only moments before they started picking at the body.

"Hey! What gives?" Rummy shouted in indignation as he flew up again.

"Yeah Sal, don't be such a scrooge! Stop hogging the cheetah for yourself!"

"Guys, I'm not planning on eating this cheetah..." Sal sighed.

"Then why chase us away? You might not want it, but we do!"

"Look, this bloke is not for eating, all right? It's evidence..."

"Evidence?"

"Yes evidence. He was murdered, for heavens sake!" the hyena growled.

"So?" the vultures blurted in unison.

"So? What part of "he was murdered" didn't you understand?"

"So he was murdered, whoopty-doo," Gin crowed, "Like that hasn't happened before. You guys kill like a hundred grazers every week, and you don't go around not-eating those, do you?"

"This was a predator killed by another predator, that's different..." Sal sighed. Were they about to make him explain the entire circle of life to them? 'Cause that'd be a huge waste of time, much like the entire conversation up to now.

"Whatever, man," Rummy shrugged, "But I'm still hungry!"

"Well then I guess you'll just have to be hungry for a little longer, bro! Damn it, as if I didn't have enough trouble on my hands already... Maka, get over here!"

"Yeah, what?"

"Eh... Okay, look, we'll do it like this: we already know what killed the cheetah – that'd be a broken neck; we already know when – last night. And from the looks of those cuts he has all over, I think I know who did him in – a leopard. Now we only have to find out who the dead guy is, and we won't need the body any longer, I think..." Sal explained, "So I'll go try and find someone to help us identify the dude. Some big-shot cheetah, preferably. Meanwhile, you keep the vultures at bay, all right?"

"Aw man... Come on Sal, we're hungry now!" the vultures complained, "How about we just leave you the head or something? Can't you identify him like that?"

"For the last time: no! You're not eating him! Just wait 'till I find out who he is, all right? Then he's all yours to gobble up as you please..."

"Dude, hurry it up, all that talk about eating is starting to make me hungry too..." Makamu grumbled.

* * *

"Again, sir, I'm sorry I had to break up your hunt like that..."

"No, it's all right; this is a serious matter... I even wish you'd gotten me sooner, actually..."

Sal found Tibu to be very cooperative. Even after the hyena had interrupted him while hunting, the cheetah had still been more than willing to stop and listen to what Sal had to say, and had immediately volunteered to come along and identify the murder-victim Sal told him about. For the better: Sal had spent so much time searching for the cheetah, it was starting to get dangerously close to nightfall. He and his partner Mary still had to go visit Rafiki, so the shaman could get a look at their youngest son, who had contracted some sort of sleeping disorder. But that wouldn't be a problem now, since Tibu wasted no time on petty indignation.

But come to think of it, that was Tibu's one great quality, his knack for being calm, humble and easy-going under all circumstances. His slow, soft-spoken manner only served to accentuate that. He wasn't exactly the guy you'd expect to be the most important cheetah in the entire territory of Sal's clan, let alone a leader (if only a small-time one). Come to think of it, that's probably why the hyenas had picked him to be their delegate among the cheetahs; he was someone you could go and sit down with to have a grown up conversation, without having to beware of his greed or ego. Plus, you could count on Tibu to never rock the boat; if there was anything he hated, it was the disturbance of peace and quiet. That was probably why he was so eager to assist in solving the mystery behind the murder at hand.

"So is there anything special you'd have me do?"

"No, not really. I was just hoping you could tell me who the dead dude – I mean, the deceased, is. And tell me whatever it is you know about him; you know, whether he had a beef with someone..."

"About what?" Tibu seemed rather unaccustomed to the idea of anyone getting into any trouble whatsoever, for whatever reason. He just couldn't imagine animals behaving erratic or vindictive.

"I dunno... What do animals bitch about nowadays? Maybe someone stole his lunch. Or he nicked someone's dinner..."

"Why would they do that? Can't they hunt their own food?"

"They sure can, sir," Sal grimaced, giving up on trying to educate Tibu's on the concept of reality, "Now if you would follow me, please?"

They arrived on the scene shortly thereafter. Makamu, his sleep notwithstanding, seemed to have done a decent job at keeping the vultures at bay: they'd only taken four or five pecks at the carcass, probably in the short time-frame wherein Makamu failed at his attempts to stay awake.

"Hello, ladies, nice to see you again!"

"Sal, you're so funny, I think I just broke my jaw in laughter..."

"Okay, Maka, you're being a Negative Nancy, and we don't need no Negative Nancies on this team, all right?"

"Sure, whatever, gaywad..."

"... and who just earned himself the award for least adult member of the team... oh my gosh, I can't believe it... it's Makamu! Now, enough with your unproductive loitering. I'd like you to meet Tibu. You might recognize him as our appointed delegate among the cheetahs."

"Good day to you, sir."

"Howdy," Makamu grumbled, "Eh, sir, with all due respect, but could you maybe... you know, hurry up? No offense, but eh, I really need to be getting so sleep."

"Now now, good sir, be patient. These is serious affair, after all! Someone died, I reckon losing some sleep is but a small sacrifice on your part..."

"Yeah, I tried telling him myself," Sal commented, "But, you know, I guess Maka just isn't a real team player. I really shouldn't be treating him as cordial, seeing as he still is my subordinate and all..."

"And you never do stop reminding me, do you... sir..." Makamu grumbled back.

Trying his best do ignore the bickering hyenas, Tibu walked over to the carcass, which was starting to become rather bloated by now, after being out in the sun all day. That would no doubt make identification a whole lot harder, not in the least because the early stages of decomposing threatened to mask the dead cheetah's characteristic scent, an important way for the animals of identifying each other. But Tibu gave it a shot either way, trying to behave as respectful as possible in the given circumstances. After a long, solemn silence, he looked back up. Sal shot him an eager look.

"Well, I must say... This is a terrible, terrible shame. A dark day for cheetahs all over the Clanlands."

"Oh yeah, no doubt about that. Very tragic. My sympathy goes out to your entire people, Tibu, for having to suffer through this terrible injustice..." Sal mumbled overly polite and blatantly hastily, expecting further explanation from Tibu. When the cheetah, however, failed to respond as Sal had expected him to, an awkward silence set in.

"Eh... Ahem..." the hyena grumbled after a while.

"Yes?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything, it's just that... eh... yeah... so, who is the eh, victim? It's just that I got you all the way over here so you could tell me..."

"Oh, right, I'm sorry sir, where are my manners. Yes... Right..."

The cheetah paused again.

"Actually, I'm afraid I don't really know him..."

"It took you all this time just to tell me that?" Sal growled, in a not-so-rare bout of indiscretion, "So what, I dragged you all over here for nothing? You don't know him? I mean, you're our delegate, for crying out loud; how can you not know that guy? So what, he's like a foreigner or something?"

"Sir, please, calm down," Tibu immediately interjected, in his typical soothing manner, "Pardon me for saying so, sir, but I think you misunderstood me there. I meant I didn't know the fellow by name or acquaintance, but that's not to say I never saw him before!"

"So... that means he's from around these parts?"

"Quite so, although I'm fairly sure he's only recently settled in our lands. Most likely, he presented himself to me once after he acquired a plot of territory, which is why I faintly remember him – but it seems like fate caught up with him before I could get to know him better..."

"Hey, wait a minute, you're saying this guy settled in our lands without you even knowing his name?" Sal wondered out loud.

"Why... yes.. But I mean..."

"Wow, hold it there. Look, I'm sorry for being a pain here – you know I'm not all that rules-obsessed either – but I don't think that's part of the deal here, Tibu. I mean, you're not the hyena-delegate just for kicks; I was really counting on you to at least know the stiff's name. For someone who's supposed to act as our eyes, ears and face among the cheetahs, I don't really think that's asking too much, or is it? I mean, where am I supposed to find out that guys name if not through you?"

"I'm terribly sorry sir, I..." Tibu seemed oddly distressed; he wasn't used to this much upsetting in the span of one afternoon, and obviously wanted none of it.

"Hey, be sorry all you want, but I still don't know who your dead kinsman is..."

"All right sir, I admit, mistakes were made. And since it's got you into this problem, I fully understand if you were to voice your complains to you matriarch..."

"What, tell Agathe? Are you kidding?" Sal snorted, oblivious to the panicky cheetah's groveling, "With that mood of her she's been having of late, she'd probably replace you as our delegate altogether! You're a good guy, and I like you, so I wouldn't want to see that happen anytime soon..."

"All right, all right, I have an idea. I can get you a name by tomorrow, all right? I'll make some inquiries, and I'll have the name of the deceased by tomorrow... But you have to keep your end of the bargain, all right?"

_My end of the bargain?_ Sal wondered silently, _What's gotten into him?_

"Oh? Okay, great! So you'll get me a name by tomorrow?"

"Will do, sir! See you tomorrow!"

Within moments, Tibu dashed off, away from Sal and Makamu, and the vultures still present on the scene.

"Wow, Sal, impressive," Makamu commended his brother-in-law.

"Huh? I don't get it, what do you mean?"

"You know, the way you pressured that cheetah into tiring himself out in finding that name for us, by threatening to turn Agathe against him...."

"I did?" Sal frowned, not seeming to realize Tibu had interpreted Sal's dig at Agathe as an actual threat.

"Yeah man, real slick. You saved us a lot of work just now! Anyway, now that we know everything we wanted to know , I guess it's time I went to get some sleep... I'll probably see you next time we go hunting... Later!"

"All right, later..."

"Say, Sal, you about done?"

"Huh? Oh, it's you guys again," the hyena sighed, remembering the vultures were still around, "Sure, I'm done here. Knock yourself out."

"You sure you don't want a piece?" Rummy squeaked as he soared down towards the carcass again.

"I'm not hungry. See you..."

The vultures, beaks now full of cheetah, didn't even bother to reply.


	2. Chapter 2

**Preface**

Taking some private and public comments and suggestions into consideration, I will include a brief and **non-exhaustive** character list in this chapter. I try to make it free of spoilers, so some characters might not be in this list. Should I have actually done this in the first chapter? Absolutely. Did I? No. So that's why I'm posting it here, and now. I hope it proves useful!

_Hyenas_

Sal: Mary's partner. Father of Kim and Micky. Brother of Louie.  
Tries to crack the murder-case because it makes him feel less insignificant.

Mary: Sal's partner. Mother of Kim and Micky. Younger sister of Agathe and older sister of Malaika. Second in line for Matriarch of the clan.  
Since she serves as the clan's second in command, she ends up doing or delegating most of the hard work.

Kimbiza (Kim): Sal and Mary's older daughter.

Micky: Sal and Mary's younger son.

Louie: Sal's brother.  
Likes long walks.

Agathe: Mother of Chenga. Older sister of both Mary and Malaika. Matriarch of the clan living in the Clanlands (which are presently part of the Pridelands).  
What's there to say, she's the Matriarch! You just shut-up and listen to what she tells you.

Chenga: Agathe's daughter. First in line for matriarch (although barely of hunting-age yet).

Makamu (Maka): Malaika's partner. Usually subordinate to Sal.  
Dislikes work.

Malaika: Makamu's partner. Younger sister of both Mary and Agathe.

_Cheetahs_

Tibu: Represents hyena authority among his own kind.  
Considered awkward and timid.

Shahidi: She lives next door to the dead guy.

Dead Guy: A cheetah with a broken neck Sal found dangling up a tree.

_Leopards_

Mgomo: He lives next door to the dead guy. Aki's brother.

Aki: Mgomo's hot-headed brother.

_Others_

Rafiki: Baboon. Shaman for the nearby prides and clans.

Zuzu: Hornbill. Specialises in law and protocol among the Pride and Clan-lands, along with Mary – they often work in tandem.

* * *

**Two**

Dinner is a not a good time to talk about anything, really. Least of all important, or sensitive topics. Or banal topics. Or funny topics. All right, come to think of it, dinner is not a time to talk at all, since it grossly detracts from time spent eating, and time spent brooding over various issues preceding the dinner in question. Sal, however, couldn't quite find fitting words to express that opinion to his darling Mary, so he went for the next-best impression.

"Can't we just like... not do this?"

With a single evil-eye, Mary rebutted all reservations, suggestions or thoughts her partner might have had. They had talked about this before: Sal was coming with her, he was going to be on his best behavior and only speak when spoken to. And was going to be cheery company all day long... or at least until he was again removed from those elite members of his clan he was about to join in hunting. It should probably be mentioned that those elites also happened to be in-laws, sort of. That's what happens when your partner is the second in line for matriarch.

Mind you, if it had been a regular day, he wouldn't have particularly minded spending the evening with Mary's sisters. After all, if Mary's youngest sister was going to be there, so would her partner, Makamu. Maybe not the best of company, but he did make for an excellent social buffer.

But then again, this was no ordinary day: it had been just yesterday that Sal had stumbled upon the first murder in the Clan-and Pridelands for as long as anyone could remember. And now, he had to brief his matriarch on the matter – and he had to do it in an informal setting. Which, among hyenas, meant over the bloody carcass of a gutted grazer, still warm and slack after being taken down in a thrilling hunt. There was definitely some irony in discussing a murder case over the body of a freshly slain beast...

"Awww come on, dad, don't be a lazy bum. Some hunting will do you good; you can use the exercise. All that lying around you do all day is making you fat..."

Oh yeah, Sal's daughter was joining the hunt too. Her first. "Joining" the hunt was maybe not the best word; she was just going to watch, for educational purposes mostly; she wasn't all that old yet. Anyway, she was going to be present, to Sal chagrin. Not that they didn't like each other; they were still father and daughter after all. But it was just that both Sal, and his daughter too, were painfully aware of the fact that he was, for all intents and purposes, subordinate to his own daughter. Which created ample awkward moments.

"Kim, could you please not do that?" Sal urged to his daughter, Kimbiza, who only reacted with a mischievous grin. It was a trait she had inherited from her father's side, obviously. Sal now turned his plea to Mary.

"Darling, our daughter's making fun of me. Shouldn't you say something?" One of the many downsides of being a male hyena is having no nominal authority whatsoever among your own kind – even when addressing minors.

"No, I think she's right – you're becoming a bit chubby... Old, grumpy and chubby..."

"The whole point of my life is to grow old, grumpy and chubby, so don't you try and take that away from me," Sal jokingly grumbled, prompting Mary to nuzzle him teasingly, chuckling because of Sal's remark.

"Gross! Why don't you two get a den?"

"All right Kim, that's enough," Mary hushed her daughter, after which she again turned her attention to her partner, "And Sal, why 're you being such a pain in the ass about this? All I want you to do is to come on a simple hunt with me. Is that too much to ask?"

"But it just keeps on coming, all these damn obligations... First, I get to pluck a dead cheetah out of a tree. Next, I spend the entire day scouring the lands for every cheetah imaginable, looking the dead guy's name. I can tell you: spending an entire day looking for cheetahs among other cheetahs ain't fun, those guys are so lame!"

"Now don't you go hating on the cheetahs..."

"But they're all just a boring bunch of benevolent do-gooders! I didn't get even one offensive joke out of 'em, not one! And if that wasn't lousy enough, I ended the day bumping into Ahadi. King Ahadi, bloody hell!"

"And you tried insulting him on various occasions to boot..." Mary calmly interjected, reminding Sal of his behavior last evening, when he'd been visiting Rafiki, coincidentally meeting Ahadi there.

"Whatever," Sal shrugged, "Point is, yesterday sucked. And I hardly got any sleep. I mean, was a bit of alone time before you dragged me out into a hunt too much to ask?"

"In one word: yes, yes it was," Mary grumbled, now again slightly annoyed, "Why? Because I say so. It's about high time you started respecting my authority unquestioningly some more."

"All right mom, stick it to him!" Kimbiza snickered.

"I think I'm just going to shut up now..." Sal mumbled. It would prove to be one of his wisest decisions of the evening.

While the sun continued it slow descent on the horizon, covering the lands in an unabashedly pleasant orange glow, the trio of hyenas continued towards the agreed meeting-point. Looking at the mesmerizing surroundings, Sal couldn't help but find them a rather inappropriate setting for a hunt, since hunts usually involve gratuitous amounts of blood and gore. One could argue that the scarlet touch of fresh blood actually blended in nicely with the orange-radiating surroundings, sure. But that is from a purely visual point of view. For what concerns atmosphere, however, a hunt was surely out of place. With an amused smirk, Sal realized he must have been about the only animal in all of the Clanlands taking visual compatibility into account before a hunt.

"Mary! Sal! Over here!" a cry suddenly resonated from a nearby patch of brush. The group was fast to recognize Mary's youngest sister Malaika sitting nearby, along with her current partner Makamu.

"There you guys are! Everyone here already?"

"No, we're still waiting for Agathe and Chenga to get here," Makamu yawned as he approached the arriving party, "But we're ready to go ahead with the hunt the moment they get here. We already spotted some nice targets nearby..."

"There's a big heard of zebra just across that hill there," Mary's sister nodded, "Chances are there are a couple of weak animals among them; we'll just have to single them out. And then..."

"Great, so I won't be doing too much running I reckon?" Sal mentioned hopefully.

"You got to be kidding me. There's only six of us going to hunt, and it's Chenga's first-time," Malaika quickly crushed Sal's hopes, "And that's ignoring Agathe's age. No Sal, we're all going to have to hunt twice as hard if we're going to catch anything today."

"Huzzah..."

"That sounds like Sal sighing disappointedly," a worn voice suddenly croaked in the background, "Never heard that before. Shocking, really"

The hyenas quickly turned around to face their matriarch once they realized who's voice it actually was. They saw Agathe sitting nearby, her daughter Chenga grinning assertively at her side.

"Madam!" everyone bowed their heads down momentarily.

"Don't grovel. Who do I look like, Ahadi? You know I hate groveling..."

"Sorry, sis," Mary smiled as she got back up, "So, you ready?"

"Ready as ever. I'm not that old, you know," Agathe shot a dirty look at Malaika.

"Chenga!"

"Hey, Kim! I didn't know you'd be here! That's so much fun! You came to join the hunt too?" Chenga yelped when she noticed Kimbiza. Although apart by about a year, the cousins usually got along excellent and had become so close friends over time that they were often hard to separate.

"Nah, I'm not really hunting. My mom said I should just come along and watch you on your first hunt. Your first hunt! That's so exciting! I'm so happy for you."

"Yeah, me too! I've seen mom do it like a gazillion times already,but I can't believe I'm actually going to hunt for real this time..."

"Hey, don't worry, we practiced more than enough, didn't we? You just make sure you're careful..." Agathe reminded her daughter.

"And the same goes for you, Kim! Stay safe, we just brought you here so you could watch. Don't do anything stupid; those zebra's can be dangerous when they..."

"Ugh, we know!" the two girls sighed in unison.

"You do? Well, all right then, I guess there's no reason not to get this party on the road," Agathe suggested, assuming her role as leader of the hunt, "You guys seem to have been waiting here a while so... what are we looking at here?"

After a short short discussion, the party settled on their hunting schedule, after which they started advancing towards the zebra heard nearby. Mary took some time out to go over the basics of their plan with her daughter.

"So we'll go over it one more time: you're just running along, but you're not hunting, all right? Just follow Chenga; she'll be chasing the flank of the herd, that should be safe enough. If anything happens, you just hightail out of there; get away from those zebra's as quickly as possible..."

"Jeez, mom, I got it, I'm not a baby..."

"All right, just making sure, dear. Now off you go... stay safe!"

"I will. And good luck!"

Kimbiza trotted of to join Chenga. She went over the plan again, in silence. It sounded easy enough: they were just going to chase the zebra around ad bit at first, to probe for any weak animals. Then, they'd single out one of those weak links, separate it from the herd (arguably the hardest part of the task) then and try to wear the victim down. All Chenga, and Kimbiza with her, would have to do was cover the herd's flank as they chased it, to try and steer them a bit. All the actual bite and shoving would be covered by the more experienced females, who would try to separate any victim from the herd. After that, they'd all get together again to finish the prey. Again, sounded easy enough.

As instructed, Kim followed her cousin silently. Suddenly, a distinctive, loud bark echoed across the plains: the zebra had spotted them. Almost immediately, Agathe let loud a loud whoop in reaction, signaling the beginning of the chase. The sound of that rallying cry almost sent a shiver down Kim's spine, and her heart-rate accelerated almost instantly when she started running. So that's what they meant with "the thrill of the hunt".

Kim was pleasantly surprised to find herself being able to keep up with her cousin pretty nicely: the unexpectedly fast tempo proved not to be a problem at all. One thing she found a hindrance, though, was the terrain. She had always imagined a hunt taking place on some kind of solid, flat plain covered in even, short grass. Reality proved a bit more of a challenge: she found herself hopping over a sheer endless number of rocks, low shrubs and grassy knolls. Much to her dismay, she even lost a fragment of her famed manes as it was ripped off when she passed through a thorny bush – even though she didn't actually realize that until after the hunt was over. All that running gave her almost no time to actually take a look at the zebra sprinting by next to and in front of her.

The chase continued on for quite a while, which wasn't of particular concern; hyenas can manage a long chase if need be, better than their feline competitors anyway. Not quite up to the level of wild-dogs, though, but pretty close. Kim, who was in excellent shape for a minor, actually considered it a plus: it gave her more time to observe the zebra they were chasing. She couldn't help but be mesmerized by the mass of zebra stampeding onward right next to her: the awesome thundering of countless hooves, all those smoothly curved bodies attuned into a perfect gallop, the magnificent contrast between those muscly built figures and their sleek elegance on the run...

She almost felt sorry for having to eat one of them! Almost.

Then, another hyena whoop suddenly cut through the air. The sisters had found their prey, and were closing in fast. But while Kim was still preoccupied with the signal of her kin, a file of zebra suddenly broke from the herd without warning, and before she even realized what was going on, Kim saw four zebra heading straight at her. Caught by surprise and unable to quickly reverse her forward momentum, Kim ended up sliding to a halt, but unable to start running away in time. For a moment there, fear gripped her heart as the specter of death reared its head. Then, just before the zebra were about to run all over her, Kim suddenly felt a heavy weight on her back, pressing her to the ground just before the zebra rushed over. Scared to bits, she closed her eyes and didn't dare open them even after the zebra were gone again.

"Hey, you all right?"

"Wo... Wa?" Kim stared up into Chenga's lively eyes, now seemingly with energy because of the hunt.

"Come on, let's go! This ain't over yet!" Chenga dashed off again, as if nothing had happened. After a short moment of utter shock, Kim got up again and followed suit, all the while pondering the question: did my cousin just save my life?

_No, she hadn't... No zebra hit us, so I don't think it really mattered... Then again, she did shield me with her own body. If I had been hit, she'd have taken the blow for me... Wow... Heavy..._

By the time all that had seeped through, Kim had already reached the rest of the hunting party, who had by now surrounded a fairly large, obviously male zebra. Strange choice for a prey, she thought, until she noticed the open fracture that split apart one of the animal's forelegs. Ouch. He must've slipped up during the chase, turning into easy prey. And the zebra knew it; both his eyes and body-language radiated despair at the hopeless situation he was in. Seven predators and one broken paw – there'd be no getting out of this one. Even so, the grazer seemed unwilling to accept the inevitable; he tried to break through the cordon the hyenas set up around him multiple times, to no avail. It was just a matter of time now: cautious yet relentless, the predators started taking turns in gnawing at the animal's legs each time he had his back turned at them.

That stand-off between the zebra and his hunters was a perfect illustration of how watching hyenas tackle a big game nothing like a lion hunting. Once you get past the ambush, a lion hunting is all about force. It's almost like a duel; the lion pride faces off their strength to that of the quarry in a pure contest of might. In the end, the one most powerful in both will and body prevails in this lethal competition. Got a noble ring to it, right?

Not so for hyenas. The name of their game is attrition, and patience. There is never a true face-off , only a continuous barrage relentless hit-and-run attacks. A true fight never takes place. There is no climax; the hyenas just eat away at their preys stamina, until it eventually collapses under it's own weight and wounds. No duel, no contest. There's only one side to this one: in the end, determined hyenas always win. It's not that much fun to watch, and probably lacks the charm of a lion hunting. But it gets the job done, with minimal risk and arguably less effort. It does give 'em bad pr, though.

Anyway, that was the situation the hyenas were in now. Just quietly nibbling away at their prey, until eventually, the three paws it had left started shaking and... the zebra bowed the knee. It couldn't manage standing upright anymore. That's when the hyenas rushed in, and finished the job. Ripped the zebra's throat, broke his neck, and just like that, a stand-off that had seemed to last hours was over. The predators briefly took a step back to survey the result of the hunt.

"Phew... Easy pie... Good job, everyone!" Agathe sighed in relief, "Here's to three sisters that still know how to hunt, and hunt good!"

"... three sisters _and_ some others too," Makamu grumbled, obviously feeling rather under-appreciated. Malaika responded by walking over to him smilingly and giving him a little peck on the nose.

After seeing that, Mary took a look back at Sal, lying in the grass nearby.

"So... you need a little kiss too, or are you all right as is?"

"W... Wa.... ? Uh... C-Can't breathe... Too much running..." Sal wheezed, "T-Told you I... phew..."

"I guess old still beats plain fat," Agathe sneered, before she started tearing into the zebra. All the other hyenas took a step back as she did; the matriarch always eats first. Mary used that short moment to strut over to her daughter, who was sitting near Chenga.

"Hey, there you are! So, how was the hunt?" Mary took a closer look at Kim, "Say, your fur's all messy. Did something happen?"

"No, mom, don't worry, I'm all right. I had Chenga to keep me safe..."

"She did, huh? What happened?"

Kim quickly explained the precarious situation she'd been in just now. Surprisingly, rather than giving Kim a repudiation for behaving irresponsible, Mary just shrugged it off.

"That's how hunts are – unpredictable. That's why you should always look for carrion first; it tastes worse, but it usually doesn't kill you. Now... I guess I'll have to thank Chenga for her little bout of heroism... By the way: you'd do good to follow her example; you should really look out for others the way Chenga did for you. Especially for your little brother..."

"Bah, why do I have to? My brother's so lame. And little..."

"Because he's your brother, that's why. That's what family does," Mary pointed out rather sternly, "Now... let's eat!"

While the rest of the girls got to eat their share of the zebra, Sal and Makamu still had to wait a little while longer. No problem, really; there was more than enough zebra for everyone, and then some.

"Hey, dude, you all right?"

"No..." Sal huffed, "Damn it! I hate running! I hate it so much... You know, it's not that I don't want to hunt with you guys – I just hate running..."

"Man... you lazy..."

"Say Sal, could you please get over here?" Agathe suddenly called, in between working down bits of zebra, "I heard there's this thing we need to have a word about..."

"Yes ma'am, I'll be over right away," Sal complied numbly, adding under his breath: "If I can find a way to get up, that is – man, my legs hurt..."

"Sal, the other day, my sister informed me that someone had found this dead cheetah hanging around somewhere, and that it had, most likely, been murdered. Is that still the case?"

"Very much so... I'm pretty sure murder was the case."

"I see. Well that suck – I mean, that's quite an upset," Agathe nodded, revering to a pensive expression, "But other than that, nothing has happened, right? No upset relatives or anything?"

"Nope, not that I know of. And if anything happened, one of our clan-mates is sure to notice – there are a lot of us, after all..."

"A lot, but never quite enough," Agathe grumbled, "All right, I get the picture now. So... here's how I see it: this unfortunate incident doesn't have to be anything special. I mean, sure, a predator is dead, but it doesn't really affect our clan, or our lands in general. Not yet anyway. No need to get all up in arms over this; for what I'm concerned, this is just another breach of the law. A serious one, mind you, but not fundamentally different from, say, someone stealing your lunch. And that's how I want you to handle it: just like any other breach of the law."

"Ma'am?"

"Look, it's quite simple: I just want you to act as you always do... in fact, all of us should. So, unless

new circumstances arise, we just go at it as we always do: Sal, you find out what happened. Mary distills who broke which rules from your account, and I decide on the fate of any culprits you two might turn up..."

"Just like that?" Sal frowned, his skepticism showing, "No disrespect, of course... but this is kind of exceptional, isn't it? So shouldn't we... you know, go a bit out of our way to deal with it?"

"I sure hope not," Agathe responded dismissive, "Sal, these lands... they're at balance. The Circle of Life runs it's course uninhibited. And part of that is because of the way we do things. This... murder is a risk to the Circle, sure, but so is going out of our way to solve it. We should be careful not to do more harm than good, and causing as little upsets as possible is the best way to achieve that..."

Agathe was talking down to Sal. Talking down to him like a little pup. He hated that, hated it so much. Almost as much as he hated running. Fortunately for him, he was smart enough to keep quiet about it, and just pretend to agree with whatever his matriarch said. Smart enough not to tell her he thought her sudden adherence to the Circle had more to do with keeping her workload down than with actually tackling the issue.

By now, all the females had about finished their meals, which meant it was time for the males to dig in – to gobble down whatever was still left. Mostly bones and hide, actually, save for one hind-leg Mary had kept separate for Sal, who in turn felt obliged to share some of it with Makamu. Over the sound of bones being ground to splinters, Agathe seemed to want to carry on the conversation.

"By the way, Sal, did you find anything on the dead cheetah yet?"

"Huh?" Sal grunted, looking op from his meal momentarily.

"You have been trying to find out what happened to the dead cheetah all day yesterday, didn't you?"

"Oh, yeah, sure... urp ... sorry," the hyena burped, "Yeah, I was out all day long yesterday. Not that much to report, really. Not even a name; I was supposed to get that one later today, from Tibu..."

"Who? You mean our timid cheetah liaison? Makes sense. Nothing else?"

"Nothing solid, no. But I think it's safe to assume the murderer was a leopard..."

"Why?"

"We found the body up a tree, and since cheetah's sure as hell can't fly..." Sal shrugged, "Plus, he got cuts all over him, definitely feline..."

"Yeah, you know, all smooth and stuff. If the cuts had been made by a hyena, they'd have been like, ruffled..." Makamu added unannounced. It earned him an evil eye from Agathe, whose body language seemed to scream "Did I allow you to talk? And yes, that's a rhetorical question, schmuck!"

After a fleeting yet painfully uncomfortable moment of silence, Makamu mumbled: "I'll just be getting back to dinner now..."

"So anyway... that's all you got? No name for the victim, and possibly a leopard perpetrator?" Agathe wondered, "No matter; I'm sure you and Mary will be able to handle this. You just act like you always do, and this'll get resolved in no time. Don't worry; this is nothing special..."

"Well if you say so..." Sal grumbled. It didn't really sound like he meant that. And to be sure, he didn't.


	3. Chapter 3

**Cast**

_Hyenas_

Sal: Mary's partner. Father of Kim and Micky. Brother of Louie.  
Tries to crack the murder-case because it makes him feel less insignificant.

Mary: Sal's partner. Mother of Kim and Micky. Younger sister of Agathe and older sister of Malaika. Second in line for Matriarch of the clan.  
Since she serves as the clan's second in command, she ends up doing or delegating most of the hard work.

Kimbiza (Kim): Sal and Mary's older daughter.

Micky: Sal and Mary's younger son.

Louie: Sal's brother.  
Likes long walks.

Agathe: Mother of Chenga. Older sister of both Mary and Malaika. Matriarch of the clan living in the Clanlands (which are presently part of the Pridelands).  
What's there to say, she's the Matriarch! You just shut-up and listen to what she tells you.

Chenga: Agathe's daughter. First in line for matriarch (although barely of hunting-age yet).

Makamu (Maka): Malaika's partner. Usually subordinate to Sal.  
Dislikes work.

Malaika: Makamu's partner. Younger sister of both Mary and Agathe.

_Cheetahs_

Tibu: Represents hyena authority among his own kind.  
Considered awkward and timid.

Shahidi: She lives next door to the dead guy.

Dead Guy: A cheetah with a broken neck Sal found dangling up a tree.

_Leopards_

Mgomo: He lives next door to the dead guy. Aki's brother.

Aki: Mgomo's hot-headed brother.

_Others_

Rafiki: Baboon. Shaman for the nearby prides and clans.

Zuzu: Hornbill. Specializes in law and protocol among the Pride and Clan-lands, along with Mary – they often work in tandem.

**Three**

"Excuse me, madam, I was told that your kinsman Sal was supposed to reside around here, somewhere..."

"Who? Sal? You mean Mary's little stooge? Doesn't he live farther out?"

"No, sis, wait, I think the cheetah is right. He's probably just "staying" at Mary's place... Just go up ahead, it's that den over there..."

"Thank you, madam. That den over there?"

Still more asleep than awake, Sal listened the conversation going on outside. The male voice sounded like Tibu, the cheetah representing the hyenas among his kin. It took a while to remember what business the cheetah had with him, but then it came back: right, the other – dead – cheetah up the tree... Tibu had promised a name, and he promised to have it by... yesterday. Not entirely punctual of the cheetah. Then again, Sal himself hadn't spent even a minute looking into the murder-case yesterday. Hunting with the family had kept him occupied at first, and after that he had followed Mary back to her den. And now he woke up the following afternoon, Mary's paws still wrapped around him. Pretty awesome day, all in all.

But now duty called, sort of, in the form of a cautious cheetah bearing news.

"Oh well..." Sal smiled, carefully maneuvering himself away from his sleeping partner. Suddenly, she pulled him closer to her purringly – insofar that hyenas can actually purr. It was more like moaning, actually. Not really all that relevant anyway, come to think of it.

"Aw... you leaving already?"

"Alas, duty calls..."

"Yeah, I guess it is getting kinda late," the now awake Mary admitted, "I still have to plan out our the digging of our new batch of dens... And I got to pass by the communal den to spend some time with the kids; after spending the day hunting with Kim all day yesterday, I almost didn't get to see Micky. You know what, I'll just drop those new dens entirely..."

"Yeah, those new dens can wait... I wish I had some time to spend with you guys. I'll wait and see how the cheetah-affair turns out; I might have some time left later today. By the way, you don't happen to be interested in spending some more time among our cheetah brethren?"

"No, I think I'll have to pass on that one. All the more fun for you, right?" Mary grinned. Just before Sal got up, the couple quickly nuzzled. "Have fun!"

Eventually, Sal wound up having to work his way through a lengthy goodbye-smooch before he could finally step out of Mary's den to go and greet Tibu. Understandably, the hyena was in a far better mood now than when the animals last met. Mary tended to have that effect on him, on some days anyway.

"And a good morning to you!" Sal exclaimed as he saw the cheetah.

"Ah, there you are. A good _afternoon_ to you too, sir."

"Morning, afternoon, all just irrelevant details, as long as they're both good. And they sure are! So anyways... how've you been? You dug up a name already?"

"About that..." The cheetah hesitated fro a moment, "Well, first of all, I'm terribly sorry I couldn't deliver it yesterday, as I originally promised..."

"Don't sweat it; I wasn't available yesterday anyway..."

"Ah. For the better, I suppose. Anyway, what I wanted to tell you is that I did indeed come up with a name!"

"Bully!" Sal blurted, causing Tibu to react rather confused.

"Excuse me, what did you say?"

"I said: bully!"

"Ah..."

"You don't know what "bully" means?"

"I'm afraid I don't..." Tibu admitted.

"It's an exclamation of approval, and I just felt like throwing it out there..."

"Uhuh... Anyway, sir, now for the name..." The cheetah was quick to steer the conversation back to more substantial waters, "It took me a while, but I found a name eventually. Turns out the poor soul went under the name of "Wahanga"..."

"Great! So now we finally got a name." Sal was genuinely enthusiast, since he really believed it would be clear sailing from now on. Most of that had to do with the fact he had never before been confronted with an actual murder among predators (testament to the quiet nature of the Clan-lands). With that attitude he was bound to learn the hard way that no murder is ever a clear cut case. Or maybe not; some things do actually sort themselves out. You just have to get lucky every now and then.

"But I was just wondering, why did it take you so long?"

"Mostly because he was new to this land; he only moved here recently..."

"Ah? And how does that work? Don't they have to pass by you for approval or something?"

"No, it's more complicated than that..." Tibu took a small pause to think how to best make his case. "How much do you actually know about the way solitary felines acquire their territory?"

"I'm guessing: not enough."

"If you say so. But you do know how we determine our territory?"

"Sure," the hyena shrugged, "It's the same all over: scent marks. Hyenas do something similar..."

"Exactly. The territory you occupy as your own to is the one you marked. If a territory is not marked, the first one to do so gets to keep it. Think of it as calling shotgun. Now, if you mark into someone else's territory, creating an overlap, the oldest marking is supposed to be the legitimate one." The big cat paused for a breather, "By the way, sir, do interrupt me if I get a bit too professorial..."

"Don't worry, carry on. This stuff is usually more Mary's thing, but I'm supposed to know these things too, so I might as well have them explained to me," Sal admitted.

"Ah, great. All right, now the thing is, these scent marks aren't permanent – as you well know. So if you don't renew them on a regular basis, they disappear. This means that, if someone marks in your territory, and you don't move to have your territory confirmed – and the other guy kicked out – your original marking disappears, and you lose all claim to your land..."

"What does "getting your territory confirmed" imply?"

"Depends. Here, it means you address the ruling clan or pride. What usually happens here is that animals address Miss Mary – that would be your partner – after which she contacts me. I then check the scent-marks, and point to whomever is at fault. Miss Mary then forces a correction. In places where the clans, or prides, don't bother to steward their lands, these conflicts are resolved by force, with the predictable damage to the Circle."

"Right. And that's relevant with respect to that dead newcomer how?"

"It's actually pretty obvious; the only way for a new arrival in these lands to become an inhabitant – that means with his own territory so he doesn't end up being taken for a rogue – is if he marks out his own place. The way to do that is take land claimed by no-one, or take someone else's land. Obviously, if the land is already taken, the newcomer's claims get disputed and the rascal is kicked out. The victim, Wahanga, however, had the chance of being able to claim the land of a recently deceased kinsman of mine. Obviously, dead animals can't dispute any new territory claims, so it gets taken over fairly quickly and eventually, the old cat's marks disappear."

"So that's why you didn't know him, because he moved in only just now?"

"That about sums it up, yes. I'm not that good with names, but I did remember where his territory was. It's only by virtue of his territorial markings that I was able to somehow identify him. Then, I went searching for his neighbors – I figured they knew him better than I did. That's when the name turned up."

"Where is the dead guy's territory anyway?"

"Oh, just ask Miss Marry for old Ovyo's place – it's Wahanga's deceased predecessor. She keeps most of those things memorized."

"Right. Say, Tibu, do you think territory has got something to do with what happened?" Sal suddenly asked.

"Why would I think that?"

"For one, you just gave an hour long speech about territory-markings, so to speak. And without a point in doing so..."

"Well... It's not so much that I think it has anything to do with the murder," Tibu argued, "It's just something I found a bit odd; I must have been thinking about that while I was explaining, making me spew all that information unannounced. Thing is, I went over to inspect mister Wahanga's territory, and I couldn't help but notice he only occupied a small portion of what his deceased predecessor claimed. Turns out his neighbors grabbed large swaths of it before he even arrived. He must have had some territory elsewhere too, because that shrivel he took from his deceased predecessor was too small to sustain an adult cheetah. I didn't have time to find out where his other realm was, though..."

"Yeah, that does sound odd – and pretty important."

"So you think it's a conflict with his cheetah neighbors that killed him?" The swiftness of Tibu's remark pointed towards the possibility that he had been trying to devise his own theory about the murder, and that this whole conversation had been his way of showcasing it. On a gloomy day, this could have seriously peeved Sal. Now, however, he was just slightly amused.

"Nice guess, Tibu. But that's all it's ever going to be, a guess. And not even quite so nice, come to think of it. Thing is, he wasn't killed by a cheetah. Unless you know a cheetah who has retractable claws and climbs trees, that is. You don't actually happen to know one, do you? That'd make my work a whole lot easier for it..."

"He wasn't killed by a cheetah?" Tibu wondered, "My bad, I didn't realize. How do you know he wasn't..."

"Looking at his wounds, mostly. And we did find the dead body up in a tree – a pretty compelling argument against the possibility of death-by-cheetah."

"Ah. Sorry, I didn't know that. But you found him up a tree? Does that make the murderer a..."

"Leopard? Probably. But we don't have anything conclusive yet, so I'm not ready to go out and point the finger at anyone," Sal cautioned, "Tibu, you're a decent guy, a bit negligent at times, maybe, but you're a good man. So I trust you to... keep the peace. I know relations between cheetah's and leopards aren't always what they're supposed to be ever since the "Water Conflicts"..."

"I understand, sir. I admit, I'm not exactly comfortable around leopards..."

"I know. But just leave it to us hyenas to handle it, all right? No need to go all vigilante, I had that once before – big mistake."

"Will do, sir. That's probably the best idea, anyway; I think a hyena clan is better positioned to handle this: more paws on the ground, and more power."

"Funny that you would mention such a thing..." Sal's smile, which he had managed to hold on to for quite a while now, suddenly started to turn into a disillusioned smirk. Sure enough, Tibu noticed.

"What do you mean?"

"Yeah... eh... "hyena clan" might have been a bit of an overstatement, unless of course hyena clan meant "just Sal, and occasionally Maka"..." Sal confessed, recalling his conversation with Agathe the other day. She said the investigation would be nothing special – which meant as much as "I'm not reassigning anyone to help you."

"But... but I..." The usually calm, composed and timid Tibu seemed to freeze up fro a moment, and then erupted, kind of: "But a cheetah was murdered! And you're saying you're the only one doing anything about it? That... that's..."

"Madness? Sparta? Hardly," Sal chuckled. The cheetah's sudden outburst didn't really intimidate him, if only because a grown cheetah is considerably more puny than a hyena – not really qua size, but certainly for what concerned build and sheer power.

"Look, Tibu, I would appreciate some help too. But if the matriarch decides I don't need it, that's her call. And I can kinda understand her reasoning; we haven't had a murder here for years. No-one really knows how to handle this, so having thirty oblivious hyenas deal with this will just sort as little effect as having one slightly capable hyena working on it."

Slightly capable – how decidedly modest of me, Sal though smilingly.

Tibu wasn't convinced at all, however, and kept on ranting angrily: "But that's not the point! It's a matter of principle! You expect us to trust you with defending justice and the Circle while you clearly could care less! It's not that more help would be helpful, it's that you prove you care about what you are doing!"

"We do care, it's just a matter of combining care with cost-efficiency..."

"Spare me your drivel!"

"Come on now, don't..."

"I'm not coming on, no sir! If you won't dedicate yourself to protecting us from those brutish leopards, we'll handle it ourselves! Good day to you, sir!"

With that, Tibu left behind a flabbergasted Sal and ran off.

"Okay... Huh... I didn't see that coming... Crud... I guess that means I'll have to hurry my work up a bit," Sal grumbled, "Man, and this started out as such a great day!"

*

There were a lot of thing Sal would rather be doing. Things like teaching his daughter Kimbiza – Kim for the friends – to hunt, or goofing around with his young son, Mikhail – Micky for short. But unfortunately, due to his own blabbering mouth, he now found himself having no choice but to come up with a suspect for the murder of cheetah Wahanga. If he delayed that much longer, chances were the cheetah's themselves would select a victim – sorry, ignore that, I meant culprit – based on such persuasive and objective criteria as personal dislike, chance and relative strength to the cheetah's that would serve him his tasty cup of justice.

First thing he did was apologize to Mary for not being able to visit her at the communal den – and ask for directions to the late Wahanga's realm. He was careful to omit the detail of him accidentally provoking Tibu into a frenzy, though.

After that, he realized his task would probably be more bearable if he got himself a henchmen, to keep him company whilst mingling with the cheetah's. Because, don't forget, cheetah's are so painfully dull (although Tibu's sudden freak-out gave some evidence to the contrary).

First stop: Makamu.

"Wow, Maka, you look terrible..."

"Dude, tell me about it... That zebra yesterday, I'm telling you... urp... uh..." Makamu was apparently coping with some bowl-issues.

"Weak sauce, pussy. I ate the exact same thing, and I'm still fine. Now come on, get your skinny ass out here!"

"Up yours, Sal. I'm not going anywhere – save maybe for a dump," Makamu grunted weakly yet combative.

"Great... So Maka's out. Damn... And I'm not about to go hassle someone – if I didn't happen to be me, I'd definitely hate someone coming over and getting me to hang around cheetahs all night and day long..."

Slacking around among his clan's scattered dens a few hours before sundown, Sal considered possible company for his little excursion towards the cheetahs he was planning. He quickly reached the conclusion he'd be going at it alone. Or maybe not; there was still one hyena he could try; the only one he knew even before he joined his current clan.

You have to understand, Sal wasn't born in the clan he was with now. Like nearly all male hyenas, he left his land of birth when he reached a certain age. Female bloodlines can run for countless decades in one clan, but males switch homes every generation. And so it was for Sal. However, upon becoming a wandering "immigrant male" – a notably less romantic term than the adventurously sounding "rogue" used to denote lions in a similar position – he didn't have to go at it completely on his own. He had the luck of having his older brother, Louie, with him as he went. In fact, if it hadn't been for his brother, chances were Sal would have never found a clan, and simply perished. But once they found a new home, as the years progressed, they drifted apart a bit; Sal's partner was a lot higher up in the clan's hierarchy than Louie's, so they moved in different social niches. They had made a habit of getting together about once a week to do some scavenging, though – if only for old time's sake. Sal reasoned he might as well ask his brother if he felt like helping out with the inquiry a bit.

The only hard part would be finding Louie; he had a bit of a habit of disappearing, sometimes for days on end without anyone knowing whereto or why – he had always been a bit of a wanderer. No-one really minded, though, since he was always ready to help out whomever asked, especially his own partner and family. This time around, however, Sal got lucky: he found his brother snoozing outside his den, on the outskirts of the clan's nesting grounds.

"Yo, Louie! How you doin'?"

"Wow, I didn't see you there," Louie looked a bit surprised as he opened his eyes. He hadn't been expecting any visitors, obviously, "Hey, little man! You're looking cheery today – so, what's good?"

"It's all good, man. I had a great day yesterday; I went out hunting, spent some time with Mary..."

"I thought you hated hunting," Louie remarked.

"Yeah, I hate it when I'm doing it. But now that it's over, I like it again – things always look better in retrospect.! So, what have you been up to?"

"Not much," shrugged the hyena, "Hanging around my place, spending some time with the kids, making treks across the land – you know how I love those. So, anything new?"

"Yeah, well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about, actually. You already heard the news?"

"What news?" Louie was rarely up to date with the latest news – it appeared that now, it was no different.

"Haven't you heard? A cheetah got killed the other day..."

"What? Man, that's the first I heard of it. You mean like, really murdered, or just killed by accident or something?"

"No, it didn't look the least bit accidental to me..."

"Well, it's all news to me. Sounds pretty bad," Louie nodded gravely, "So, what's that got to do with me?"

"Huh? Not a thing, I guess – I don't even know why you'd think of that. Or wait, maybe it involves you a bit..."

Louie gave his brother a disturbed look.

"No, I don't mean like that," Sal quickly clarified, "I just mean I needed your help, 's all. Because it turned out – big surprise, right – that I'm the one who's going to have to figure this mess out. And I could really use someone to keep me company..."

"Ah, like that. Yeah... eh, I don't know if m helping you is such a good idea," Louie mumbled, "Not that I don't want to help you, obviously – it's just that I've got some stuff to look after. Plus, I don't know the first thing about dealing with a murder..."

"Don't worry, that makes two of us," Sal grinned, trying his best to still convince his brother, "Louie, don't worry, it won't be a minute. I'm just going to go over and talk to some cheetahs, measure some territories of theirs..."

"Ah... sorry Sal, that's a no can do. No bad feelings, all right? But have all these things that need doing... and, to tell you the truth, I really, really can't stand cheetahs, all right?"

"Wait, what?" That statement utterly caught Sal by surprise. When on earth had his brother suddenly turnrd into a hater? "Well that's novel. Since when do you..."

"Look, Sal, I'd rather not talk about this, all right? Just drop it, it's a wholly personal thing..."

"So personal you cant even tell your brother?"Sal frowned. Louie's response was a tense silence.

"Okay... So I guess you won't be coming with me then?" Sal eventually sighed.

"I'm afraid not, little man. No offense, all right?"

"None taken. If you don't want to..."

"No, sorry..."

"No biggie! I mean... I dunno... I'm certain I meant something. But you're still down for some scavenging in a couple of days, right?" Sal asked, rather disappointed.

"Yeah man, off course – I wouldn't want to miss that for anything in the world," Louie grinned, "Just not today, all right?"

"I suppose... Well then, I guess I better get going; it'll be dark in a few hours; no use in going to visit the cheetahs while there asleep..."

"Good luck in finding anything. Sorry I couldn't be of more help..."

"Hey, forget about it," Sal shrugged grinningly, "See ya!"

_Well that's just great – the first murder in who-knows-how-long, and the only one trying to do something about it is me. I think I understand what Tibu was getting at now... Meh, maybe it'll turn out just fine. Yeah, probably..._


	4. Chapter 4

**Cast**

_Hyenas_

Sal: Mary's partner. Father of Kim and Micky. Brother of Louie.  
Tries to crack the murder-case because it makes him feel less insignificant.

Mary: Sal's partner. Mother of Kim and Micky. Younger sister of Agathe and older sister of Malaika. Second in line for Matriarch of the clan.  
Since she serves as the clan's second in command, she ends up doing or delegating most of the hard work.

Kimbiza (Kim): Sal and Mary's older daughter.

Micky: Sal and Mary's younger son.

Louie: Sal's brother.  
Likes long walks.

Agathe: Mother of Chenga. Older sister of both Mary and Malaika. Matriarch of the clan living in the Clanlands (which are presently part of the Pridelands).  
What's there to say, she's the Matriarch! You just shut-up and listen to what she tells you.

Chenga: Agathe's daughter. First in line for matriarch (although barely of hunting-age yet).

Makamu (Maka): Malaika's partner. Usually subordinate to Sal.  
Dislikes work.

Malaika: Makamu's partner. Younger sister of both Mary and Agathe.

_Cheetahs_

Tibu: Represents hyena authority among his own kind.  
Considered awkward and timid.

Shahidi: She lives next door to the dead guy.

Dead Guy: A cheetah with a broken neck Sal found dangling up a tree.

_Leopards_

Mgomo: He lives next door to the dead guy. Aki's brother.

Aki: Mgomo's hot-headed brother.

_Others_

Rafiki: Baboon. Shaman for the nearby prides and clans.

Zuzu: Hornbill. Specializes in law and protocol among the Pride and Clan-lands, along with Mary – they often work in tandem.

* * *

**Four**

"Excuse, miss, but... you gonna eat that?"

"Huh? Oh that... no, it's all yours. Cheetahs can't eat bones anyway..."

"Good point," Sal conceded, starting to crunch down on the femur offered to him. In a matter of minutes, nothing remained. For all his whining about not wanting to go face the cheetahs alone, Sal's visit actually started of on a positive note: he had the luck of coming across a female cheetah who had just finished hunting a small antelope. While the big cat finished her meal, Sal explained his situation to her, and she agreed to help him almost instantly.

"Again, thanks for agreeing to help me out – and for the snack."

"Please, don't mention it," the cheetah smiled, "It's the least I could do for that poor Wahanga..."

"You knew him well?"

"Not as well as I would have liked; we only met a couple of times. But he was so polite! A real gentleman – not like my other neighbors..."

"I see... But you didn't really know him then? So there's nothing you could tell me about him?"

"No, not really. I can't remember anything peculiar about him – mind you, he was new around here; it's only been a couple of months since he took over old Ovyo's land, most of it anyway..."

"Yeah, about that," the hyena suddenly interrupted her; for some reason, he couldn't get Tibu's talk about cheetah territory out of his mind, "I heard there were some shifts in territory right after eh... what's his name... after O... eh..."

"Ovyo?"

"Yeah, after he died. You know anything about that?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary... some of his former neighbors took over parts of his territory right when the old man died, that's all. Not me though; profiting of the poor soul's death is in really bad taste, I think..."

"One animals tragedy is usually another's meal," Sal smiled, "Come to think of it, that would make a good slogan for hyena life in general... Anyway, about that territorial transition... didn't Wahanga complain about that or something, being stuck with only a shrimp of a domain?"

"Well, no. You have to remember, those claims had already been made between Ovyo's passing and Wahanga's arrival. Those lands weren't his to start with, and he accepted that readily."

"And weren't Ovyo's neighbors peeved Wahanga got to his land before they could claim it whole?"

"No, they had already marked the best bits. Claiming more territory would have made their realms to big too patrol, so they didn't really care when Wahanga occupied what little there was left..."

"I see... So I guess the murder didn't have anything to do with territory, huh?"

"I can't imagine why – everybody seemed happy with theirs. Wahanga's was exceptionally tiny, though – I don't understand how he could have ever survive there..." The cheetah seemed to have reached the same conclusion as Tibu had with regards to the size of Wahanga's land. Sal couldn't help but notice it seemed to have at least the appearance of being an important detail. So maybe, just maybe, it actually was important. Wouldn't that make sense?

"Say, you're under the impression Wahanga's territory was a bit on the puny side – did you actually go out and measure it, or something?"

"Measure? Oh, no, not at all; that would have required me to go out and check every scent-mark he made," the cheetah explained smilingly , "No, I just presumed it, after hearing all the neighbors talk about how they expanded their realms after Ovyo died..."

_This territory-idea Tibu planted in my mind is obviously going nowhere... Wait... Unless.._.

Sal had a little stroke of genius there. Or rather, a bout of annoyance at Tibu's negligence – chances were the cheetah hadn't actually bothered to research the true size of Wahanga's land, he probably jut heard it from some neighbor bragging about his new acquisitions, and let his imagination fill in the blanks, after which the information got passed on to Sal.

"Wait – you're telling me you just know about Wahanga's territory by hearsay?"

"Yep. Sorry, I didn't know that was a problem..."

"Oh, no, don't worry," the hyena quickly moved to reassure his most useful new acquaintance of the day, "No, you've been incredibly helpful already – thanks, by the way. Thing is... can I ask you for another favor? I know I've already taken up a lot of your time..."

"No, I'm always glad to help – it's the least I can do to help your kind. I mean, what you hyenas – and the lions next door too – have done for this land is really incredible! I was raised in a place where every animal was on it's own; a lawless hell – this place is like a paradise in comparison. I hope we can keep it that way – and solving that murder is probably going to be an integral part of that effort..."

"All right, that's the spirit," Sal grinned, regaining some of his good mood he had when he woke up. Finally, some corporation! "I wish more animals had your attitude..."

"I guess they don't realize just how well we have it here..."

"My thoughts exactly. Now, what I'd like you to do is come with me, and tell me which territory Wahanga marked as his own – I can't tell one cheetah-marking from the other, so that'll be up to you. And we best get to it right away, before night falls – I know cheetahs don't really dig that..."

And so the unusual couple set out, closely examining the borders of used-to-be-Wahanga's-territory. At first, they uncovered just what they expected: the late cheetah's land was incredibly tiny, only a fraction of his predecessor's. Just about when dusk set in, however, the cheetah accompanying Sal suddenly backed away while investigating what she believed to be a scent mark.

"Yuk!"

"Wow, what happened? You're all right?"

"I'm fine... I just didn't expect to smell this here..."

"What?"

"Fresh leopard markings, on top of an older cheetah-scent..."

"So?" Sal shrugged, "What do leopard marks have to do with this? I thought we were looking for..."

"No, you don't understand – this was supposed to be the border between my land and Wahanga's. But now, I'm living next to a leopard..."

"Wait – you're saying you can't have both at the same time?" Sal suddenly realized.

"What, you didn't know? Cheetah land and leopard territory can't overlap!"

"But... why not? It can overlap with hyena-territory, right? I mean, your land is right in the middle of my clan's..."

"Yes, but leopards and cheetah relations are different from cheetahs and hyenas – it's like lion and hyena territory; those can't overlap either..."

"Ah, right... Damn, that was stupid of me..." Sal sighed. Of course, it all made sense now; Wahanga was killed by a leopard, a leopard took over his territory... "So you're saying a leopard just took over Wahanga's land?"

"Some of it anyway... starting here..." the cheetah reasoned, "That's strange... There were no leopard markings where we came from – that must mean only a part of Wahanga's territory got taken over. Then there must be some other markings splitting his territory in two..."

"So what does that mean?"

"Wait, let me check something..." the cheetah mumbled, after which she slacked of, away from the line that defined the border between her land and Wahanga's. Arriving at a seemingly random bush, she stared sniffing around.

"Strange..." she mumbled, "There are leopard markings here too, and a very faint cheetah scent... wait a minute... I think I remember this one... it's old Ovyo's mark – what's left of it anyway..."

"Wait – so that means Ovoyo's territory only came to here? But you said your border with Wahanga's land continued over there, for who knows how far, now overwritten by a leopard..."

"Strange, huh?"

"Yeah, quite... I think I just realized how Wahanga could survive on only so small a portion of Ovyo's land," Sal mumbled – finally, he had an epiphany! Maybe this little investigation wouldn't be all this hard after all, "It's pretty obvious, really – he added someone else's land to his, beyond that of Ovyo. And now that someone – a leopard, as it would seem – has taken his land back... That's why all these fresh markings are lying around here."

"So... you think that's why he was murdered?"

"Yep – you got a better explanation?"

The cheetah, however, seemed far from convinced. Strange, really; with all the animosity between cheetahs and leopards ever since that little war of theirs – the "Water Conflicts", which took place shortly after the end of the "Rogue Wars" – you'd think she would go ahead and accuse the leopard instantly: "But that doesn't make sense! Why murder someone over a bit of territory? I mean – not here! If you've got a problem with someone here, you go talk to a hyena, or a lion, and they set things straight..."

_That's the idea, anyway..._

"... But you don't resolve things like this by going out and killing someone! That's what would have happened in my old place, but not here..."

"What can I say, animals do stupid things sometimes..." Sal shrugged, rather surprised at the cheetah's unshakable belief in a just world, "Well then, I guess it's time I had a chat with the resident leopard... And it's just the right time too; he'll be waking up right about now."

He again turned to the cheetah.

"Anyway, I think I know all I needed to know now. Thanks for your help; if it weren't for you, I'd still be running on empty..."

"My pleasure, I guess... But I still don't quite buy into this..." the cheetah mumbled.

"Time will tell. By the way, don't wander of too far – if this leopard is really who I'm looking for, chances are I'll be sending someone to come get you tomorrow, so you can tell my matriarch all you told me. You know, like a testimonial."

"Will do."

"Great. All right, again, thanks for the help, and see ya!"

_And now to find that leopard..._

In a surprisingly upbeat mood, considering he was about to confront a possible murderer, Sal trotted of into the leopard's territory. Then again, he had ample reason to be cheerful: he was about to apprehend the first murderer this land had seen in years; quite the achievement, really – even if it had taken him almost no effort. Now the only hard part would be to locate the leopard; that task should certainly prove to be feasible for a hyena. Only problem was it, it could take a while.

_I don't suppose trying the ol' "Marco – Polo"-trick will be of any use here..._

Seeing as how it wasn't exactly nighttime yet, Sal figured his best bet would be to scan the trees for any sleeping feline. Or he could just follow his nose to the nearest smell of a rotten carcass; if it hung up a tree, chances were a leopard would be snoring right next to it. Such turned out to be a pretty solid idea: before long, the hyena found what he was looking for: a leopard lying spread out across a couple of branches, sleeping blissfully.

Not really content to wait for the big cat to wake up on its own, Sal let out a loud yelp. As was to be expected, it proved to be such a startle the feline almost tumbled right out of his tree.

"Aah! What the hell? Who... Wha – what's... what's going on?" the leopard mumbled, disoriented and still a bit sleepy, until he noticed Sal, "Whoah, man, what's the matter with you? You crazy or something, stupid ass..."

"Now now, no need to get all belligerent on me..."

"Screw you man, I was sleeping! Why the hell did you wake me up for?"

"I was just wondering, 's all," Sal grinned provocatively, "Do you live here? Is this your eh... your territory?"

"Uh – duh! Of course it is! Couldn't you see me sleeping here, just now?"

"All right – so we've established that you live here. Now, I think we've gotten off on a bad start here; let me introduce myself. I'm Sal, and I'm from the hyena clan that administers your little plot of land here. I'm sorry I had to wake you up like that, but I'm here for a matter of utmost importance – I hope you understand my position..."

"I guess," the leopard yawned, seemingly a bit less agitated now, "Mgomo 's the name, by the way..."

"Well nice to meet you, Mgomo. You might have guessed I'm not here on a social call; I'm here because I needed to ask you some questions..."

"All right..."

"... involving your neighbor, the cheetah Wahanga."

"Sure, no problem," the leopard shrugged. He looked quite at ease, maybe even too much so. And he was still sitting up in his tree, forcing Sal to look up while addressing him. The hyena decided not to mention it yet, though.

"First of all, do you realize he is dead?"

"He is?" The big cat's expression didn't change one bit from before. He wasn't even trying to look surprised.

"Yep. But at least you don't seem to mind, though..."

"Meh. Didn't really know the guy. He was new around here, you know."

Leopards make excellent liars, mostly because their facial expression never changes. Never. But this guy still had a lot to learn; Sal detected a hint of emotion in that statement, which lead him to believe that Wahanga and Mgomo did actually know each other, they knew each other pretty well.

"Uh-uh. The thing is... he was murdered..."

Again time to gauge for some kind of a reaction. Would the leopard drop the ball? Would he keep his cool? Or would he just react with utmost shock and surprise, as he well should... Neither, it seemed.

"Say what?"

"Wahanga was murdered. Killed, slain, offed, whatever."

"Oh... that's... pretty bad," the leopard mumbled, "I don't really remember anything like that happening before..."

"That's 'cause it never did."

"Yeah... That's pretty awful... I eh... Sorry, I don't really know what to say..." Mgomo shook his head, "Awful situation... But... what's that got to do with me? I know the guy was my neighbor and all... but I don't think..."

"Your neighbor he certainly was, with emphasis on the "was"," Sal interrupted, "And you're right to suppose that simply having the misfortune of living next to a guy that happened to get murdered should in no way implicate you in given affair..."

Sal paused for a moment, suddenly yawning. All this investigating was awfully tiring, little work as it might have been.

"... but that's not exactly why I'm here. See, I happened to find out – through meticulous research..."

_Being lucky enough to bump into a cheetah who knew more about leopard-cheetah territorial relations than I did, that is._

"... that there have been a couple of rather conspicuous territory transfers recently, between you and

Wahanga."

Sal paused again, hoping for some kind of response. It didn't come. Mgomo just seemed to be trying to stare the hyena down.

"You wouldn't want to elaborate on that?"

"No," the leopard grunted.

"So nothing on how Wahanga took your land, and you took it back?"

"That's between me and Wahanga – that's got nothing to do with..."

"Yeah, sure," Sal smirked sarcastically, "Whatever you're selling, I ain't buying it. You're telling me you just happened to take back your territory the moment Wahanga died – without even knowing he was dead, by your own account?"

"Yep. Nothing illegal about that is there?"

"No. Just highly improbable. Certainly not as likely as you going out and getting rid of Wahanga because he had the nerve to take over your territory..."

"You're barking up the wrong tree, hyena," Mgomo suddenly growled.

"Only because you're too big a pussy to come down from yours..." Time for some provocation; the best substitute to decent investigative work. Plus, having to look up at Mgomo all the time was giving Sal a sore neck. And would you look at that: the leopard willingly took the bait, and hopped down from his tree.

"You were saying?" Mgomo growled as he encroached on Sal, who tried his best not to appear intimidated.

"You smell an awful lot like cheetah – you been close to one recently? You don't have a cheetah girlfriend, do you? Or is that Wahanga I smell, still all over you after your duel?"

"Please, you woke me up for that?" Mgomo smiled viciously, "So there's been a bit of a territory back-and-forth between me and Wahanga. It happens. We sorted it out on your own, no big deal. That's all you have to convince your matriarch of my involvement in the matter? Oh, right, that and some odor you supposedly picked up – there's a laugh for you; a hyena picking the smell of a dead cheetah from a leopard. You ain't got bollocks. Hyenas can't identify cheetahs by smell, buddy; you know it, and your matriarch nows it... "

"But other cheetahs can," someone suddenly shouted, taking both Sal and Mgomo aback. From the darkened brush surrounding them suddenly appeared the female cheetah that had escorted Sal around Wahanga's land. This was surprising for two reasons, the first being the late hour: cheetahs don't stay up late, they use their nights to sleep, in contrast to other big-cats like lions or leopards. It was also a curious appearance because she didn't really have anything to gain by appearing there at that time, not personally anyway.

"What the..."

"I knew Wahanga. I didn't know him that well, I admit, but I did know him. I know what he looked like, I know what he smelled like," the cheetah continued, brazenly lumbering towards Mgomo, "And you have his smell all over you. You could have just has well been living with him for the last month, and it still wouldn't be that flagrant..."

"Uh... Yeah! What she said," Sal nodded, half surprised, half delighted with the cheetah's appearance, "Killing 's a messy business, you have to get real close... some cross-contamination is bound to happen eventually."

Sal slacked over to the cheetah, all the while keeping his gaze fixed on Mgomo, making sure the leopard understood he was done for: "And I'll give you my word on this: cheetahs sure can identify other cheetahs. I know it, my matriarch knows it..."

For a moment there, it seemed as if the otherwise rather well-composed Mgomo would loose his temper and go into a fit of rage: he started skulking towards the female cheetah menacingly.

"Why you dirty little..."

"Wow there, hold your horses, partner," Sal tried his best – all right, maybe not entirely his best, but at least he tried – to shush Mgomo, taking up position in between him and the female cheetah, "You don't want to make this any worse now – don't make me have to kick your ass..."

"Please, spare me the tough-guy bullcrap, Sal," Mgomo spat, appearing a bit calmer again, though also strangely personal when addressing Sal. Like he knew him, or had at least heard a lot about him from someone else, "I know what kind of half-baked wuss you are; why don't you go crawling back to the misses, and leave me alone? I mean, what else are you going to do? Apprehend me? Drag my ass back to your clan's central den?"

Sal took a deep breath, trying his best not to zap Mgomo trough the mean look he had in his eyes. Mgomo's description had been a bit too close to the truth for comfort, for what Sal was concerned. On the other hand, with the sudden reappearance of the female cheetah to help link Mgomo to Wahanga, his mission had pretty much been accomplished. A great success, really, so no need to get worked up all of a sudden and mess it all up somehow.

"You know what? You're right. That's exactly what I'm going to do; I'm going to crawl along home, cuddle up with the misses, get some sleep. And then, tomorrow, I'll be back. And being the little wuss that I am, I'll bring friends. _Then_, I'll drag you back to the matriarch. How does that sound?"

"Lovely. Bring it on," the leopard replied stoically.

"All right then," Sal nodded, after which he turned to the still present cheetah: "Miss, I think it's best we left now – both of us at the same time. It might not be all that safe for you going around on your own right now..."

"Hey, wait a minute – are you just gong to leave him here?" the cheetah asked, as Sal was preparing to leave the area.

"Huh? Who?"

"The leopard! Shouldn't you be apprehending him, or something? What if he, you know, makes a run for it overnight?"

"Oh, by all means, I hope he does," Sal grinned, turning back at Mgomo, who was still watching him with a hateful stare, "Because if Mgomo over there all of a sudden were to decide to run off and not be present in his own territory tomorrow when I come for him... well, that's a confession of guilt, ain't it? That's how we see it, anyway. Then he'll be banished from these lands, risking death if he ever shows his face again. If, on the other hand, he decides to just be a good boy and wait here, he'll be brought before the matriarch. And she might decide he's free to go – or she might banish him for murdering Wahanga. Either way, it's in his best interest not to run; he might get off the hook, and the worst that could happen is getting banished – on the other hand, if he runs, banishment is the only possible outcome."

"Banishment? I thought you were going to have him executed..." the cheetah whispered, trying to make sure Mgomo didn't hear her.

"Nah, our previous matriarch gave up on that – wasn't all that keen on killing other predators. And she devised that whole theory about making it advantageous for animals to show up at their own trial voluntarily, eliminating the need to waste time and effort on detaining or apprehending them. And that theory doesn't work if the ultimate punishment is worse than banishment."

"Thanks the history lesson – I'll make sure I remember it..." Mgomo grumbled cynically.

"My pleasure entirely – I hope I see you again tomorrow, for your own sake..."

The female cheetah and Sal started walking away again, of toward her territory. All was said and done, so no need to waste any more time, really. Plus, both of them were feeling like taking a long, quiet nap by now, the non-nocturnal cheetah most of all.

"I guess I owe you my gratitude – yet again," Sal mumbled to his companion after they had already been walking for a while, "Good thing you were able to pick Wahanga's scent off the leopard – that's about the only solid testimonial I've got..."

"Hey, no problem – I'm sorry I snuck up on you like that, by the way. After we met, I was kind of curious about what you might find out..."

"Yeah, it'd have been a better idea to just ask me if you could come along, probably... There's one thing I don't get, though: why all the help? What do you stand to gain? I mean, coming out against Mgomo like that is likely to make him rather..."

"Vengeful?" The cheetah paused for a moment, smilingly, "Yeah, it might. But I'm willing to take those chances; if that's what it takes to keep our little paradise afloat, I'm willing to take the heat. Like I told you before, I don't think animals realize how good we have it here; we have order, security, peace and justice. I think it's only fair I do my part to keep it that way – just like you do."

"I second that," Sal nodded grinningly, "It's a shame there aren't more animals like you..."

It was only now that Sal realized he had never asked for the cheetahs name.

"Heck, what's your name anyway? We never properly introduced ourselves..."

"Shahidi."

"Sal, nice to have met you."

"Likewise. So... what happens now? I go home, and..."

"Ideally, you'd go home, get some sleep, and by tomorrow-evening I'll come pick you up, along with Mgomo. Then, we go see the matriarch, you tell her everything you told me, and Mgomo is banished from this land, never to be seen again," Sal explained, "However, the situation we're in is not quite ideal. For one, I don't think it'd be a good idea for you to go home just like that. Mgomo knows who you are, where you are, and he knows you're likely to get him banned from this place with your testimonial..."

"What, do you really think he would..."

"Better to err on the save side," Sal shrugged, "I will sleep more soundly if I know there's someone looking out for you, so Mgomo can't get to you even if he wanted to..."

"So you're sleeping over?"

"Say what?" Sal yelped in surprise.

"Isn't that what you meant? I mean, you're not actually expecting me to leave behind my territory and tag along towards your clan's nesting place, are you?"

"Eh... yeah, kind of... I mean, don't you want to be somewhere safe, just for the time being?"

"Not really – I want to go home and have a nap."

"But what if Mgomo..."

"I'll take my chances. I can take care of myself pretty well, you know," Shahidi grinned.

"Oh... all right then. No use in forcing anything on you, I guess..." the hyena shrugged. He was a bit conflicted: part of him believed it was imperative that he stay behind and guard Shahidi, while the rest of him was only concerned with getting back home as quickly as possible. Eventually – and maybe rather irresponsibly – he chose the latter, if only because he had promised Mary he'd be back home before midnight, to spend some time with the family.

"So... I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Yep – if Mgomo doesn't get me first, that is..."

"Not funny," Sal frowned, not at all at ease with the idea of leaving his only witness behind unprotected, at risk of having spent the last few days of investigation ultimately fruitlessly if she ended up dead as well. But since he didn't really have a choice in the matter, nor the personality that would incline others to obey him, he had to content himself with leaving Shahidi behind and just hoping for the best, really.

The trek back home turned out to be longer than Sal remembered it to be, and as such, he only reached his den way past midnight. A good time to go to sleep, sure, but it ruled out whatever other activities he might have had planned. And since he reached the clan's nesting area unexpectedly late, it turned out both Agathe, the matriarch, and Mary were already fast asleep. That meant informing everyone of his interesting new finds would have to wait until the next day too... oh well, so be it; no biggie.

Sal cautiously maneuvered himself into Mary's den, trying his best not to wake her up. His best efforts notwithstanding, however, he still ended up bumping into her, causing her to lift her head up and stare at him drowsily.

"Whoops – sorry," Sal whispered sheepishly.

"Get out."

"Huh? What? I said I was sorry..."

"I don't care. Get out," Mary smirked, obviously annoyed as she lay her head back down, trying to go asleep again.

"But what did I ..."

"I'm not arguing with you, Sal. I don't see you for an entire day, your kids don't see you for an entire day, and now you suddenly appear and wake me up? That's not how I roll. Now get about before I throw you out."

"But..."

"No "buts", just "Yes, ma'am!"... Now out."

"Eh... yes ma'am, I guess..." Sal mumbled as he backed out of Mary's den again. Talking 'bout a big time bummer... Then again, it wasn't that bad. Mary wasn't angry or anything; getting all hysterical wasn't her style. She showed Sal the door, and that'd be it; she wouldn't mention it again. Remind Sal who was boss. Good way of dealing with arguments too, really, but not quite fit for the meek of heart.

That said, Sal was still bummed out of his mind. It'd be one cold and lonely night for him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Cast**

_Hyenas_

Sal: Mary's partner. Father of Kim and Micky. Brother of Louie.  
Tries to crack the murder-case because it makes him feel less insignificant.

Mary: Sal's partner. Mother of Kim and Micky. Younger sister of Agathe and older sister of Malaika. Second in line for Matriarch of the clan.  
Since she serves as the clan's second in command, she ends up doing or delegating most of the hard work.

Kimbiza (Kim): Sal and Mary's older daughter.

Micky: Sal and Mary's younger son.

Louie: Sal's brother.  
Likes long walks.

Agathe: Mother of Chenga. Older sister of both Mary and Malaika. Matriarch of the clan living in the Clanlands (which are presently part of the Pridelands).  
What's there to say, she's the Matriarch! You just shut-up and listen to what she tells you.

Chenga: Agathe's daughter. First in line for matriarch (although barely of hunting-age yet).

Makamu (Maka): Malaika's partner. Usually subordinate to Sal.  
Dislikes work.

Malaika: Makamu's partner. Younger sister of both Mary and Agathe.

_Cheetahs_

Tibu: Represents hyena authority among his own kind.  
Considered awkward and timid.

Shahidi: She lives next door to the dead guy.

Dead Guy: A cheetah with a broken neck Sal found dangling up a tree.

_Leopards_

Mgomo: He lives next door to the dead guy. Aki's brother.

Aki: Mgomo's hot-headed brother.

_Others_

Rafiki: Baboon. Shaman for the nearby prides and clans.

Zuzu: Hornbill. Specializes in law and protocol among the Pride and Clan-lands, along with Mary – they often work in tandem.

* * *

**Five**

One day can make a world of difference, almost literally. One day you wake up in some comfy, happy place while the world smiling at you as you venture forward into the brilliant sunlight. Then suddenly, the next day, you find yourself being violently dragged from you cold, lonely den, way too early in the morning.

"Wo – wa... what's happening here?"

"Yo Sal, wake up! We need you outside, quick!"

"What the hell are you doing in my den? Why now? What time is it anyway?" Sal mumbled disoriented. Talk about a lousy way to start to a lousy day. Then again, he should have seen the bad-luck coming yesterday already: Mary barring him from her den the night before was a clear enough omen, and the first thing which Sal remembered as he woke up; not really a happy thought to start your day on.

Sal laboriously dragged himself from his den, incessantly yawning. First thing he bumped into was a grinning Makamu.

"What are you so happy about, jerk? You enjoy wrecking my sleep like that?"

"Hehe, no, don't worry, I don't enjoy that... It's just, you know... I heard Mary kicked you out. Trouble in paradise?"

"Weren't you supposed to be sick?" Sal grumbled, trying his best to ignore what Makamu said, "What did you wake me up for anyway, if not for your own amusement?"

"Hey, you tell me: there's this cheetah asking for you. Seemed really freaked out, I didn't understand a word of what she said..."

"A cheetah asking for me?" Sal yawned, "Huh... she didn't happen to give you her name, did she?"

"I dunno, something with an "s". She-Diddy or something..."

"Shahidi?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

"And she's upset?" Still not quite awake yet, it took Sal a while to connect the dots. As such, he only started panicking himself after an unusually long wait: "Oh crap! That's right, Shahidi! Don't tell me something happened to her?"

"I don't think..."

"Enough! Sal shouted, now entirely lucid again, "Stop wasting my time and take me to her!"

"But you asked if..."

"I said enough. Now get moving!"

After a hurried jog, the two hyenas reached the central nesting grounds, where they found Shahidi sitting amidst a group of curious bystanders, Mary among them.

"There you are!" Mary smiled when she noticed her partner, "Did you sleep well, dear?"

"No. You kicked me out, remember?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry... but that's what you get for waking me up like that. Now, onto serious matters – this cheetah here was clamoring to see you. You mind explaining..."

"Sal, is that you?" Shahidi yelped when she noticed the hyena.

"I'm here," Sal nodded, "Are you all right? What happened; what are you doing here? Did Mgomo..."

"No, don't worry, I'm fine – bu you have to come quick, something happened to Mgomo!"

"Wait – what?" Mary interrupted, "I don't quite follow – who's this Mgomo-guy?"

"He's the leopard I suspected of killing Wahanga, the dead cheetah, earlier," Sal quickly explained before turning back to Shahidi, "Now, calm down, tell us what happened to Mgomo."

"I'm not entirely sure. I was sleeping, when loud screams suddenly woke me up – that must've been around sunrise. So I immediately got up to check what was happening, and sprinted over to Mgomo's land – that's where the noise came from. When I got there, I think I saw a fight or something..."

"A fight?" Sal reacted flabbergasted, "You mean Mgomo was attacking someone?"

"No, I think it was Mgomo who was being attacked – I think I saw two, maybe three cheetah's chasing him – last thing I saw was them pulling him back out of a tree he tried climbing in. That's when I got scared and ran here..."

"I heard enough," Mary suddenly interrupted, "We have to get over there, quickly! Cheetah, you lead the way – and the rest of you, follow me, too."

Without much further ado, Mary, Sal, Makamu and a couple of hyenas that had just been hanging around but were obliged to obey Mary's order followed Shahidi, who quickly made her way back to Mgomo's realm. Along the way, Sal tried conveying the little he knew to Mary.

"Sal, what the hell is happening? What on earth did you do yesterday? Why is your main suspect being attacked by cheetahs?"

"I don't know!" Sal huffed in all honesty, "Honestly, I don't have a clue! I just interrogated the guy a bit yesterday, 's all. I wouldn't know where those cheetahs came from all of a sudden..."

Then, Sal suddenly remembered Tibu.

"Crap! Tibu!"

"Who? You mean our cheetah delegate?"

"Yeah, him! I met with him yesterday, but in the middle of our conversation he suddenly got all pissed off..."

"Why, what did you do?"

"Nothing! He just went berserk after I told him I was the only one currently looking into the murder..."

Keeping a steady pace, the group reached their destination fairly quickly, although they didn't notice anything unusual at first. There were no screams, no sounds of a struggle. For all they knew, the fight was long over.

"So what do we do now?"

"Split up and search. When you find something, or when you need help, just shout out, and we'll meet up. Everyone got that?"

The members of the search-party gave a quick nod, then set out to look for Mgomo – or rather, for any leopard or cheetah they might come across. After a while, one of the random hyenas that had been forced to come along on the trip suddenly shouted out.

"Hey, you guys! I think I smell something!"

As instructed, everyone got together again to investigate the new lead. Before long, they stumbled upon signs of a struggle, in the form of mangled vegetation, and trees with scratch-marks after a leopard had apparently unsuccessfully tried to climb them.

"I smell blood this way..."

Blots of blood started appearing in the grass as the group progressed, eventually turning into a veritable trail of bloodstains.

"Well this doesn't look good," Makamu mumbled, stating the obvious. And eventually, almost inevitably, the trail led them straight to Mgomo, whom they lying found curled up on the ground in a puddle of what appeared to be his own blood.

"Oh boy... Is he..."

Sal poked the body with his paw a couple of times, but there was no reaction whatsoever, nor was there any sign of a breathing motion.

"Yeah, I think he's pretty dead all right..."

"Man, you can't be serious..." Sal sighed, "Another one? Great, just what I needed – the only suspect I have is now pushing daisies. This is messed-up..."

"Well moping about it isn't going to make this go away," Mary rebutted dismissively, "Shahidi here said she came for us the moment she witnessed the fight. And I'm guessing the leopard hasn't been dead that long yet. So, if we're lucky, then maybe, just maybe, whoever did this is still around, or at least not too far away. Say, Shahidi, did any of the attackers see you as you ran off?"

"No, I don't think so..."

"Great; that means they don't know we're on to them yet. Everyone; let's split up, and start looking. We'll all pick different directions, and we'll meet up here as soon as someone alerts the others. If we don't find anything by noon, we report back here. You got that?"

"Shouldn't we move in teams or something?" Sal yawned, "Not that I'm scared or anything, but just in case..."

"All right, you team up with Shahidi, if that'll make you feel any safer," Mary grinned with some sense of sarcasm, "Now get going, lest whoever did this gets away."

The group dispersed, and the search began, with only Makamu staying behind to watch over Mgomo's corpse. Once they were out of the other's hearing-distance, Shahidi suddenly addressed Sal.

"That big hyena, what's-her-name..."

"Mary?"

"Yeah, her. So, are you two... ?"

"We have two pups together, yeah," Sal grumbled, finding that particular topic rather awkward, given the current situation.

"Oh, all right... It's just that she seems a bit... you know..."

"It's just one of those days, 's all," Sal shrugged, not entirely sure whether he was being realistic or just in denial, "She just needs some space every now and then..."

"Ah, I see. Well, if you say so..."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing..." Shahidi chuckled, much to Sal chagrin, who retaliated by refusing to talk to the cheetah for the remainder of the search. After a while, the duo suddenly stumbled upon a small, secluded body of water. Various trees and brush surrounding the watering hole obscured it from sight for anyone that wasn't knee-deep in the water. Shahidi suddenly gestured Sal to halt, and keep completely still. The bewildered hyena was just about to ask what the hell she was thinking, when he too noticed a figure skulking around at the other end of the pool.

"Is that...?" the hyena whispered.

"I don't know – I say we sneak up on him. You go right, I'll go left."

"No, wait, I want to go left."

"What for? What does that matter anyway? You go right!"

"No, you go right!"

"Whatever, just go already."

As it was said, so it was done, and both predators started circling the pool. Keeping the target in view all the way round, Sal was quick to notice it was a cheetah they were stalking, and a rather familiar cheetah at it. If it hadn't been for the blood all over his face and paws, Sal would have immediately recognized him as the esteemed representative Tibu. When both him and Shahidi were in position, Sal decided to step forward and let their presence be known.

"Tibu? Is that you?"

"Huh? Who – Sal?" As could be expected, Tibu was taken aback completely. For the better: that was the entire point of sneaking up on him; might even keep him from running.

"Well would you look at that, it is you, Tibu! How about that? You're the last animal I thought I'd find here. I didn't know you live around here..."

"Eh..."

"Oh my, what's with all the blood? I do hope that's not yours... is it?"

"Eh... no, sir," Tibu replied hesitantly, trying to get his usual pattern of speech back, "No, it eh... I caught this prey..."

"Oh really? Must've been a big prey... you know, with all that blood on your face..."

"Ha, a big prey... heh... I don't know about that," Tibu stuttered, "But it did bleed lot; you sure got that right..."

"If that don't make me a clairvoyant...," Sal smirked, "So... you mind telling me where that humongous prey of yours is, exactly? You know, I don't want to impose myself or anything, but you do owe me after that dick-move you pulled on me yesterday; running away like that. So, what about it? You gonna show me to your brunch or what?"

"Ah, sir, yes... about that..." before the cheetah could finish his bumbling sentence, however, he was again interrupted by his hyena acquaintance.

"On second thought... no...you know what? I don't need you to show me to your prey. I'll just keep a look-out for vultures circling around..."

"Sure ain't a lot of vultures around here," Shahidi suddenly interjected grinningly.

"Now that you mention it..." Sal replied, faking surprise at this apt remark, "Say Tibu, what's up with all those vultures – you know, the ones that ain't here? Shouldn't they be digging in your kill right now?"

"Eh..."

"Huh, who could have ever seen that coming" the hyena suddenly growled, "Tibu catches this grand prey, and all of a sudden no vultures around to show me to it... talking about bad timing on the vultures part; I got the munchies just now... Tibu, be a dear and show me to your kill, will you..."

A short silence ensued.

"What's the matter, forgot where you put it?" Shahidi smiled.

"Either that or, more likely, there's no prey around at all," Sal yawned, abandoning the fake smile he kept up 'till now, "All right Tibu, lets cut the crap here: we know you ain't caught no prey. That blood you got all over your mouth is Mgomo's."

"Who?" Tibu replied unrealistically sheepishly, "I have no idea..."

"Just cut it out, Tibu!" the hyena suddenly yelled uncharacteristically loud, almost angry, "Just cut it out, all right? Stop lying to me..."

That sudden outburst shocked both Shahidi and Tibu, who both stared silently as Sal sighed profoundly.

"How long have we known each other, Tibu? I can't remember, that's how long. I've known you for years, and I've considered you a friend of the family all that time... but then, from one moment to the next, I suddenly find you here, covered in the blood of a leopard neither of us have ever heard of – until yesterday..."

Tibu's gaze hardened as Sal spoke, the heartfelt speech seemingly having an adverse effect on the cheetah. Tibu now too stopped pretending, although he never really shook his typical subservient mannerisms.

"With all due respect, sir, there are things you simply can't understand..."

Then, without warning, the cheetah broke into a sudden sprint. Sal, lulled into an unjust sense of complacency by the unexpectedly long and civil conversation, lacked the necessary vigilance to predict the cheetah's move, let alone to try and stop him. Tibu managed to race right passed him before the hyena even realized what was going on. Shahidi, however – for whatever reason – appeared to be a lot less shortsighted, and was able to start her pursuit of the now fugitive Tibu the moment he tried to make a break for it.

The thing is, cheetahs are fast – and I do mean really, really fast. Fastest African predator by far, for one. Therefore, watching a cheetah chase down it's prey is really something extraordinary, even spectacular. But watching cheetahs chase each other... well, that really goes beyond spectacular; it's actually quite absurd, really. Comparable stamina, comparable speed – and they both tire after about two-hundred meters. That's the thing about cheetahs hunting; they're faster than their prey, but they have to catch it in the first few moments of the chase, otherwise the cheetah tires while the grazer escapes. But when two cheetahs chase each other, they both do an awesome sprint at first, and they both slow to a crawl after a few seconds – if this hadn't been been as serious a case as murder, Sal would have probably found the sight amusing. Now, however, he was forced to join in on the chase, with good prospects of catching Tibu: hyenas are not quite as fast as cheetahs, but their stamina is excellent – or at least, it is supposed to be; not so much for the lethargic Sal.

Less than a minute into the chase – which had already exhausted both the cheetahs considerably – Shahidi seemed about to apprehend Tibu: a well-aimed swoop at his back-paws made him stumble, and eventually fall down. Before he could be pinned down, however, Tibu had one last surprise up his sleeve: in what is best described as an totally bitch move, he flung a paw-full of dirt into Shahidi's eyes, causing her to stagger. Tibu used the respite that gave him to get back up, but before he could get going again, something heavy suddenly smashed into him. It seemed that, huffing and puffing all the way there, Sal had finally managed to catch up too.

Notwithstanding just being knocked to the ground by Sal, Tibu still wasn't about to give up, and tried his utmost best to get back on all fours. Since Sal had ended up very much on top of him, however, that necessarily involved clawing the hyena's face. Needles to say Sal didn't appreciate that, and as a way of giving utterance to that grievance, he could think of nothing better than clenching Tibu's neck tightly between his jaws. Of course Tibu resisted, but the more he fought back, the tighter Sal's grip seemed to become. Eventually, Sal found nothing better to do than smacking Tibu against the nearest tree head-first – twice. He then released the cheetah, leaving him lying on the ground very much alive, but wholly unconscious.

"Phew... That's what you get for making me run, jerk!"

* * *

"Well this is just fantastic..."

Agathe again started pacing up and down in front of the small group assembled before her. Along with her, there were Makamu, Sal, Mary and Shahidi, along with Tibu and another cheetah, both of them guarded by a couple of big hyenas. It didn't take a genius to see that Agathe – the old matriarch of the clan – was not happy to see any of them, far from it.

"So... what happened again, exactly?" she yawned, "Correct me if I'm wrong here: this cheetah – Wahanga – ends up dead, for some reason. We have our dear Sal here find out what happened, and he comes up with this other loser – this time a leopard named Mgomo. And for some reason, he then decides to leave that leopard alone until the next day, only to find the leopard murdered as well, by our esteemed cheetah representative Tibu no less!"

The matriarch slacked over to the captive cheetah sitting down next to Tibu.

"And what did this clown do again?"

"Eh, he's my neighbor, ma'am," Shahidi replied cautiously, "We think he assisted Tibu in... well..."

"... in icing Mgomo, right," Agathe interrupted, still pretty annoyed with the entire situation, "And you are...?"

"She's Shahidi, ma'am," Sal mumbled, "She helped me uncover... well, all kinds of stuff."

"Is that right? Well, nice to see you made e new friend, that's something at least," Agathe growled venomously, "Because you royally screwed up everything else, Sal! What on earth were you thinking? Don't you know the first thing about history? Or about Tibu over there? If you had, you'd know better than to mention that you suspected a leopard of being a cheetah-killer. Cheetahs and leopards just finished fighting a bloody war over control of watering-holes less than a generation ago! A war that cost Tibu most if not all of his family. And then you simply tell him that us hyenas could care less about the before mentioned murder? Real genius!"

"Wait, I never said that!" Sal replied defensively, "That's what Tibu made of it. And how was I supposed to know..."

"You ask someone, anyone! You could have asked Mary if there was anything special you should keep in mind around cheetahs," Agathe continued, taking a short breathing pause, after which she roiled on, "And if that wasn't bad enough, you then decided to just leave that Mgomo fellow hanging around his own place in stead of detaining him, even though he was clearly guilty and you knew the cheetahs were out crusading..."

"Yeah, but I figured that – taking our standard procedures into account – if he wasn't in his territory the next day, that'd be a confession of guilt, and..."

"And now he's dead, nice job!"

"Yeah,"Sal sighed, "I have to admit... I didn't really see that one coming..."

"No, you didn't obviously," Agathe replied,"I mean, you do have a brain, don't you? Use it; don't behave like a unimaginative lion-cretin, think outside the den for a change! For goodness sake, that whole "don't detain them, let them come to you on their own"-idea was invented back when the worst thing to happen around these parts was the occasional theft of a watermelon, or other assorted foods..."

The matriarch sighed once again, more theatrical than before.

"Then again, maybe I should have lent you some help – who knows, maybe if I had actually sent someone _competent_ to help you, this wouldn't have happened..."

"So, where do we go now?" Mary interjected after a long, uncomfortable silence.

"Right, what do we do now... First off, we have to take a look at where we stand. And where we stand is at two murder cases," Agathe explained, now again pretty calm, "Now, the murder of Mgomo has been solved – these two bozos did it, obviously. But the dead cheetah is something else; our main suspect died... but I think we can all agree that he was in fact guilty, right?"

"Although hardly the proper procedure to find an animal guilty, I agree," Mary smirked.

"Right. So that leaves us with Tibu and his accomplice... I think it's time we set an example. We just can't have predators going around killing each other like that, so I'm going to condemn these two out in public, preferably with a big crowd watching..."

"Sounds good to me... But I'll need some time to set that up; can't gather a crowd on such a short notice," Mary nodded, "How about we do it tomorrow afternoon, or in two days time? Late enough for the leopards to join, but still during daytime, so the cheetahs can come and watch too."

"Great, so that's settled, we'll do it like Mary said," Agathe yawned, "And if gathering up all those animals proves to much of a hassle, just commission some vultures to do it for you... Well, that about wraps it up; you're all excused – except for you girls guarding the captives; I'm not about to engage in the same folly as Sal to just let them walk. You make sure they don't go anywhere, I'll make sure to send some extra help later on."

With those last words, everyone hastily made their way out of the den.

"You're awfully quiet all of a sudden..." Mary commented once they were outside, staring at a brooding Sal next to her, "What happened to you?"

"What happened to me? How about I got my face clawed by a cheetah, not to mention the way Agathe humiliated me just now..."

"Since when do you care about what Agathe thinks?"

"Good point," Sal conceded, "Since when did you start talking to me again anyway? What happened to the "Get out!" of last night?"

"I prefer if we didn't have that argument," Mary glared, reminding Sal of the invisible borders he wasn't supposed to cross, "Besides, you're not the only one Agathe got all angry at – she gave me a scolding just yesterday about those new dens I'm supposed to commission... probably part of the reason I had such a short temper... which reminds me, I should get to that den-digging right about now. So what are you doing today?"

"Well, seeing as how my assignment of finding the murderer seems to be over, I think I'll just go get some sleep – haven't had that in a while...

"Sounds like a plan – feel free to use my den if you want, by the way."

_So that was it? Our little argument over, just like that?_

"That's just bully..."

"What?"

"Nothing..."

Before turning in for the nigh – or day, or whatever time it happened to be – Sal made sure to pass by Shahidi, to get her take on the matter.

"Hey there... So I guess your investigation is over, huh?"

"Yeah, it would appear so, with all culprits and suspects either dead or detained..."

"So, you're going to leave it at that? Case closed?" Shahidi asked.

"Yep. Although there's still one thing I don't get though: how did Tibu find out Mgomo was a suspect?"

"Ah, I think that one's my fault," the cheetah conceded, "You remember Tibu's accomplice – you know, the other cheetah we caught? He's one of those neighbors I told you about. I kinda ran into him just before I went to get some sleep, after our confrontation with Mgomo. I'm afraid I told him one detail too many... He was probably in league with Tibu, so..."

"Yeah, that sounds probable..."

"That's not what worries me, though. I just don't get Mgomo... I mean, I get Tibu. I'm not originally from around here, so I don't have the kind of anger he has because of those "Water Conflicts" - but I can understand his reasoning; a blood-feud is a blood-feud after all. But Mgomo killing Wahanga when he could have just asked any hyena for help reclaiming his territory..."

"Makes you wonder whether there is maybe more to it..." Sal wondered out loud, "Doesn't matter now, though; we already have our story with a victim and a murderer. And our only lead – Mgomo – is dead, so case closed. That more than does it for me."

"I suppose you're right... Well, I guess I'll see you at the trial then?"

"Yep. Take care!"

Sal had a hard time getting to sleep that night; unlike Shahidi, he just couldn't wrap his mind around what Tibu had done.

_You think you know someone... and then they just... Damn... Then again, how well did I know Tibu? I din't know about his family, or what he did before I got to this clan – who could have guessed he picked up an intense sense of hatred for leopards during the "Water Conflicts".?And how little did I know about that war... I guess that's what happens when you're not born and raised somewhere, but just barge in halfway through... Or maybe not... I wonder who or what else I don't actually know all that well..._


	6. Chapter 6

**Cast**

_Hyenas_

Sal: Mary's partner. Father of Kim and Micky. Brother of Louie.  
Tries to crack the murder-case because it makes him feel less insignificant.

Mary: Sal's partner. Mother of Kim and Micky. Younger sister of Agathe and older sister of Malaika. Second in line for Matriarch of the clan.  
Since she serves as the clan's second in command, she ends up doing or delegating most of the hard work.

Kimbiza (Kim): Sal and Mary's older daughter.

Micky: Sal and Mary's younger son.

Louie: Sal's brother.  
Likes long walks.

Agathe: Mother of Chenga. Older sister of both Mary and Malaika. Matriarch of the clan living in the Clanlands (which are presently part of the Pridelands).  
What's there to say, she's the Matriarch! You just shut-up and listen to what she tells you.

Chenga: Agathe's daughter. First in line for matriarch (although barely of hunting-age yet).

Makamu (Maka): Malaika's partner. Usually subordinate to Sal.  
Dislikes work.

Malaika: Makamu's partner. Younger sister of both Mary and Agathe.

_Cheetahs_

Tibu: Represents hyena authority among his own kind.  
Considered awkward and timid.

Shahidi: She lives next door to the dead guy.

Dead Guy: A cheetah with a broken neck Sal found dangling up a tree.

_Leopards_

Mgomo: He lives next door to the dead guy. Aki's brother.

Aki: Mgomo's hot-headed brother.

_Others_

Rafiki: Baboon. Shaman for the nearby prides and clans.

Zuzu: Hornbill. Specializes in law and protocol among the Pride and Clan-lands, along with Mary – they often work in tandem.

* * *

**Six**

_So in the end, I ended up with... well, with nothing to do, really._

Sal felt a bit conflicted as he woke up early, sometime in the afternoon. Part of him was kind of relieved everything had "worked out" in the end. Well, maybe "worked out" isn't the best way of framing it; two predators had ended up dead – Wahanga and Mgomo – and another two – Tibu, the cheetah formerly representing the hyenas, and one of his stooges – now stood to be banished in a couple of day's time, after some kind of a public trial that had yet to materialize.

Still, at least everything had worked out for Sal himself, kind off. He didn't have to go out investigating anything anymore, and his little one-night row with his partner Mary was well behind him too – she even allowed him into her den again... all in all, he still didn't relly get what that was all about... But still, all's well that ends well... right?

Not exactly. Being relieved of his investigative duties for the time being only meant a return to the daily drudgery for the hyena. Loitering, preforming menial assignments, doing some small-talk and socializing... Not really a terrible existence, mind you. But not quite as... well, quite as exciting as solving murder mysteries and descending into the grim underworld of the Clanlands, mixing with all kinds of ruthless lowlifes. All right, maybe that last one was taking it a bit too far. But still, it certainly beat being assigned to a digging team.

That's right, a digging team. Mary had finally gotten around to start work on a bunch of dens she had been ordered to commission ages ago, and had tasked Sal with turning out some competent diggers – some local warthogs, and meerkats, to be precise. For some reason or another, everyone seemed to have gotten the impression that Sal was the guy to talk to when it concerned finding some help outside of the clan, much to his own annoyance. That's what you get for being a nice guy to everyone.... And thus, he ended up having to go out looking for the resident warthogs, to get them to do some of the heavy digging for the new dens, and a meerkat tribe to do the finishing, engineering and general design.

Mind you, there wasn't anything particularly difficult about persuading mentioned animals – they had been doing similar assignments for a very long time now, digging a new den for the hyenas whenever and wherever needed. It was part of a kind of an agreement between the hyenas and those particular animal troupes – you dig us a den, and in turn we don't eat anyone belonging to your tribe – not often anyway. It was a pretty hard deal on the clan, but the dens they got in return were pretty nice – you know, solid, spacious, clean and ventilated; all thanks to the meerkats skilled design and the warthogs sturdy digging.

"So... I'm supposed to do what, exactly? Go out there, gather a crew, get back to the site – and you'll take it from there?"

"It's not all that difficult," Mary yawned, "Yeah, that's what I want you to do. So, you know, get out there and make it happen."

"Sure, why not – it's not like I have anything better to do..."

"And even if you had, you'd still go out there, if only because I told you so."

"Indeed," Sal smirked. He knew his place, and was pretty content about it, really. A lack of authority usually translates in an equal lack of responsibility, which wasn't all that bad come to think of it. It left room for error, which Sal had aplenty.

"Mom, can I come with dad?"

"Hmmm? What, dear?" Mary replied, addressing her son Micky. They had spent the last night together, all three of them: Mary, Sal and Micky, all sleeping together in Mary's den; one happy family. It was kind of a special moment for them; usually, Micky spent his time in the communal den, and both Sal and Mary were out leading their own lives largely beside each other, but not together. They seldom found the opportunity to get together like that. So even if their son's presence seriously detracted from the level of intimacy, Sal didn't mind one bit; being alone with Mary or being together all three of them were just as good, albeit on a different level.

A pity their older daughter Kim couldn't be there, though – like any would-be-adult her age, she spent most her time learning to hunt and scavenge along with other "sisters", and gradually trying to become a decent and upstanding member of the clan. But that's just the way life works; Sal would just have to focus some more of his attention on little Micky, while he still could.

"Sure, little man, no problem," Sal yawned as he got up, "You can come along if you want to – but why would you want to? I'm just going over to see some meerkats and warthogs, no big deal..."

"Yeah, I know, but that's why I want to go," the hyena pup nodded enthusiastically, "All I get to see here are other hyenas. That's... boring, I want to go out and see... other... things... and stuff."

"Wow, hold your horses there. We're just going to see the warthogs and some meerkats, you do realize that, right? Don't expect any adventures..."

"Awww, come on Sal, let him be enthusiast," Mary snickered, "There's nothing wrong with our son becoming a young and adventurous go-getter, right?

"Yeah!" Micky agreed grinningly.

"Meh... When I was his age, all I ever wanted was to get happy, get fat and get l... – getting someone to spend my life with when I was older..."

"Well, by and large, you succeeded. But maybe your son wants a bit more out of life..."

"Would you, Micky? You know, get more out of life?" Sal asked, somehow what sarcastically.

"Yeah, sure – I guess..."

"Well then, perhaps you might; you never know what could happen, I guess," Sal shrugged, "So how 'bout we start by paying those warthogs a visit? We'll move on to the meerkats later. Or the other way around, make things a bit more exciting, you know?"

* * *

"So that's settled? We can count on you guys to do the engineering, and the design?"

"Yeah, sure, don't worry! We'll have it done in no time, you can count on us," the meerkat chief assured the hyenas, "Just gimme a minute to buzz up some fellas, alright?"

"Swell," Sal grunted, "And thanks, by the way."

"Hey, fugeddaboutit. As long as you're not eating us, we're more than happy to make you guys some new digs every now and then – hell, I'd have even thrown in some song and dance if you'd have asked me so... Should I?"

"What? No, just stick to helping build some new dens!"

"All right, it's cool – so no singing, I get that... Now, you wait here while I get the guys; you can take them to the site, and they'll know how to handle it from there – if they don't get eaten, that is..."

"Oh, come on, like that ever happened before..." the hyena mumbled.

As the meerkat chief slacked of, Sal turned his attention to his son: "Not quite as exciting as you imagined, huh?"

"Yes it is, kinda... I never knew there were this many meerkats before!" Oddly enough, Micky enthusiasm actually seemed to be genuine.

But then again, the pup had never seen a single meerkat before, so to suddenly find himself amid a sprawling, buzzing colony must have been pretty overwhelming. A testament to their incredible digging skills, the meerkat's colony was pretty vast, even to larger mammals like hyenas. Many visible hubs and nests, some several feet high, interconnected by an invisible yet enormous underground tunnel network, with what looked like an innumerable number of meerkats rushing from one den to the other in a seemingly random manner was sure to impress a young pup like Mikey, whose experiences did not reach beyond the communal den and his own family.

Moments later, the meerkat chief returned, accompanied by a group of what were supposed to be experienced diggers – Sal being pretty oblivious to the fine art of digging, he really couldn't tell whether that last part was true, nor did he actually care an awful lot.

"All right – so that's everyone?"

"Yep," the meerkat nodded, "Ready to go whenever you give the mark – mind you, they'll have to get back home before dark, they can always return the next day if need be."

"Better not screw around any longer then – let's get going. Micky, you coming?"

"Be right there, dad," the hyena pup replied, getting his head out of a tunnel that was in the process of being dug, much to the relief of the diggers who had been rather annoyed with the inquisitive brat.

Walking, the members of the unusual group kept their silence until they were well out of hearing distance from the meerkat colony – no real reason, actually; that's just how their little walk turned out, all silent. The first one to step up and break the silence, unsurprisingly, happened to be Sal.

"So... you liked that? You know, going around and meeting some other animals?" he asked his son, slacking next to him.

"Yeah, I guess. It was... different."

"Like not the same..."

"I know what "different" means, dad..."

"Yeah..."

"They looked a lot nicer than I thought they would," Micky suddenly admitted.

"Hey, you know, we're right here, kid!" the meerkat foreman suddenly shouted, taking offense at being spoken about in third person when, in fact, he actually _was_ right there. The young hyena pup was quick to apologize, formally and humbly, just as he was taught.

"I'm sorry sir, I didn't mean to..."

"Hey, don't worry kid, it's alright. And there ain't no "sirs" around here – you just call me Ben..."

"Just "Ben"?"

"Yeah, just Ben – I like short names. If I ever get any kids, you can bet on it they'll have short names, like Max, or something. Easy to remember, and to shout," the meerkat grinned, "But what's up with that talk of us looking "nicer" than you thought?"

"I don't really know," the pup admitted, "It's just that every time my friends talk about other animals, they tell me how nasty, or stupid, or mean those other animals are. I guessed the same would be true for meerkats..."

Well, next time they say so, punch'em in the face, and give them my regards..."

"Yeah, that's great advice to be giving to someone under two years," Sal smirked, giving Ben a dirty look, "Son, if you catch your friends saying that, just tell them what I always tell everyone: jerks are everywhere, not least of all within your own clan. You're better of having a friendly leopard for a friend than an ass – … nasty hyena."

"I'll second that," Ben concurred, "Where did you pick up that pearl of wisdom anyway?"

"Like most of the stuff I know, I got it from my older brother, Louie. How did he say it again... oh yeah, I remember: "You have to keep your _options_ open, 'cause if you stick to just hyenas, you're in for one helluva boring-ass life." Then he gave me one of those stupid grins he always makes... you know, the same kind I always do..."

Almost instantly, Micky produced just that kind of grin.

"You see? The kind of grin he's giving us right now. I guess it runs in the family..."

As both Micky and the meerkat snickered at Sal's remark, he himself couldn't produce the faintest smile, however. Much like he had done for the past few days, he again found himself brooding, this time over his brother.

_What irony,_ Sal thought, _that the hyena to have taught me tolerance turned out to have been a cheetah hating bigot – or at least, that's what Louie pretended to be last time we met... The world just seems to grow a bit more insane with each passing day... except for me – I think..._

* * *

Once the group got back to the site where the new dens were supposed to be, work progresses fairly quickly – the meerkats surveyed the surroundings, proposed a better spot to dig the dens, got what they wanted, did some preliminary planning and research, had the warthogs dig some shallow holes, mostly so they'd remember where to continue work the following day. Before long, however, the sun started getting rather close to setting, so everyone wrapped it up and went back home. Sal, returning from dropping his son off at the communal den, rejoined his partner to survey the work done so far.

"Not bad, huh? I mean, for one evening's work," Sal yawned.

"Better than anything I could ever dig, I'll give them that..."

"Well, they might be better diggers, but you're still the cutest one around..."

"Oh yeah, go ahead, compare me to a warthog, real smooth," Mary frowned mischievously.

"What if I did? What are you going to do about it?"

"How 'bout I beat you 'till within an inch of your life, would that work out for you?" Mary was all too happy to go along with Sal's teasing, playfully pushing him to the ground, moving her face close to his, whispering: "Now what, tough guy? I'm on top – again..."

"Eh – am I interrupting something?" someone suddenly squeaked, above them, startling both hyenas, who promptly scurried away from each other.

"Aah! What the hell, who's there?"

"Oh, wait, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"Zuzu? Is that you?" Mary suddenly realized, looking up at the hornbill hovering above her, "Oh, whoops! That's right, you were coming over today – sorry, I guess I forgot..."

"Thanks a lot, Zuzu," Sal grumbled, understandably disappointed.

"Sorry, I didn't want to break you up – I mean, disturb you or anything," Zuzu clumsily apologized, "It was just that I was looking for you, Mary, and..."

"No, don't – I should have remembered you'd be over. My mistake. Sorry, Sal, I was supposed to fill Zuzu in on all the stuff that went down here recently – you know, all those animals getting murdered. Now was really the only opening we had in our schedules, us being the important girls that we are..."

"So I guess I'm supposed to bugger off again?"

"Pretty much," Mary admitted, "Ow, come on, don't make that long face – you know I'll make it up to you, so don't worry about it..."

"Meh, I guess so. Better go get some sleep then, and leave you two to it..."

"Love you!" Mary shouted teasingly as Sal slacked off, provoking an annoyed grunt.

So now, Sal found himself with nothing else to do for the remainder of the evening. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing; just loitering can be fun enough in it's own right, once you get over the typical guilt you get from wasting time – although such tends to be minimal among Sal's kind. Still, after the pressure of having to solve a couple of murder-cases, just idling around felt a bit awkward. And it must've shown: Mary was quick to address him about it, the moment she showed up again, after an hour or two.

"Well you're looking awfully bored."

"Guess who's to blame for that..." Sal mumbled

"Hey, I already told you I'd make it up to you somehow..."

"But..."

"Huh?"

"Come on, don't tell me there's no "but", no assignment you would want me fulfill, or order I should follow..." the hyena sneered, more than a bit annoyed

"Well, now that you mention it... Come on, don't act like that," Mary urged, "It's not like you have anything better to do..."

"You're damn lucky I'm still ridiculously in love with you," Sal finally relented after a tense silence, "Alright, so what is it?"

"Well, I was hoping you'd walk Zuzu home – it's getting pretty dark already, and I'm sure she'll appreciate it..."

"Please, Mary, don't bother, I'm perfectly fine – I can fly, you know..." Zuzu, who had suddenly appeared, replied dismissively.

"No, really, I insist! If only because, on your way home, you could explain Sal all you know about the "Water Conflicts" - that is, if you would be so kind as to do so," Mary implored, casting a glaring eye at her partner. She wasn't about to let him forget the trouble his limited historical knowledge on the subject had gotten them into.

"Sure, no problem – I can do that," Zuzu agreed, "I'm pretty sure Ahadi won't miss me if I'm late; it's not like he listens to anyones advice anyway... certainly not this late... So is that okay with you, Sal, tagging along?"

"Of course it is; I'm telling him to go, so he does," Mary grinned.

"Yes ma'am..." Sal grunted with played obedience, slowly getting up again, "All right, miss Zuzu, let's get on with it – if I'm home late again, I might just end up sleeping outside tonight – again."

* * *

"All right, shoot, what's all that buzz I keep hearing about these "Water conflicts"?"

What do you want to know?" Zuzu replied, sitting comfortably on Sal's shoulder, "There's a lot to tell, you know, certainly with that mess you've been into the last couple of days..."

"Tell me about it," Sal snickered, "That's a mild way of putting it... But what do I need to know? Everything, I guess. From what I can tell, those "Water Conflicts" were already over and done with by the time I settled in my clan. So, you know, go ahead and give me the whole story..."

"The whole story? Sure... I'm just not sure where to begin..." Zuzu hesitated for a moment, "I guess it all started just about when the "Rogue Wars" were over. Come to think of it, that makes a lot of sense – most of the lands had been ravaged by marauding troupes of rogues, and order had pretty much broken down. Anyway, it was about that time we got hit by a bad drought. For the lions and hyenas, it didn't really matter that much, since they had both participated in the war, and their numbers had been seriously reduced; for them it didn't really matter there was a sudden drop in preys and water..."

"Sounds like tough times..."

"Quite. But as I said, lions nor hyenas noticed the drought; not enough animals left to notice, I guess. But the leopards and cheetahs had stayed mostly outside of the war. And I don't know if you know this, but they're in some quite tight competition – more so than cheetahs and lions anyway."

"I know, Tibu told me as much – before he went all psycho, that was..." Sal smirked.

"Oh, all right. Anyway, turned out there was only one watering hole left they could use – and it happed to be on a leopards turf. Guess what happened?"

"Each animals was served according to his need, and utopia ensued?" When he said that, it was the first time Sal actually heard Zuzu laughing out loud.

"Yeah, right. No, what happened was that the leopard wanted to share – but the other leopards got first served. That is, after both lion, hyena, elephant and most grazers had had their fill. The cheetahs were not amused, and thirsty ..."

"So they decided it was time for a few territorial adjustments?"

"There, you're getting the hang of it! You should know that cheetahs tend to live in small families, while leopards live almost entirely solitary. That gives cheetahs and edge when it comes to ganging up on others – it didn't take them long to form "self defense troupes". And next thing you know, the leopards got kicked from the waterhole..."

"Didn't the lions do anything to stop it? Or my clan?" Sal wondered.

"Not really – they had just endured the bloodiest conflict in our known history, remember? So they could care less, at that time. But that wouldn't last. 'Cause it didn't take the leopards long to get back at the cheetahs. They lacked numbers, and sociability, but compensated with stealth and skill; a leopard assassin killed the cheetah ringleader's partner and son in their sleep."

"That's..." Sal froze up for a moment, "But that's just... how could they..."

"Sal, dear, you have to keep in mind, killing had become a way of life. You couldn't go five minutes without tripping over the bones of some lion or hyena killed in the war. It was a different generation – no-one is alive to have actually lived through it now; luckily... Anyway, what happened was that both victims were dragged up a tree near the watering hole, as some kind of warning..."

"Sounds eerily familiar..." Sal suddenly realized the implications of the first murder he'd come across a couple of days ago – a dead cheetah up a tree. If that wasn't sending a message, what was? He cursed himself for his historical ignorance at the time – Agathe had been right, the second murder could have been avoided...

"So what happened next?"

"What could have happened? Violence begets violence. The cheetahs got together a death-squad, and things got further out of hand..."

"And how did it end?"

"Well... To quote my father – a smarter majordomo than I ever will be – "Bad things happen when good animals let them – but don't let that that put you down; it means all of us good souls have the opportunity to stop it." That's exactly what happened..."

"Heavy stuff, from more epic times..." Sal nodded after a short silence.

"But no less true for it – and I wouldn't be to sure about the past being any more epic than the future; you never know what lies beyond the horizon 'till you get there, for better or worse. But on to the end of the "Water Conflicts". After a number of casualties – probably way too many, but I digress – the most unlikely source intervened; the Shaman. Rafiki's (now deceased) predecessor learned of the atrocities taking place, and discerned they were damaging to the Circle, not to mention that they were inherently despicable. However, himself being a leopard, he needed someone neutral and powerful to intervene on his behalf. So he got together the Big Guys; Mohatu, Arista, and the then still young and inexperienced Agathe, your own matriarch. No one knows what the Shaman said that day, but whatever it was, it worked."

"So we intervened?"

"Oh yeah. And not just a little bit. First thing they did was round up all the ringleaders, and decided what to do with them. Agathe earned her reputation there; it was her idea to have them all killed, against Mohatu's wishes, by throwing them off Priderock..."

"Wait, what?" Sal exclaimed in shock.

"What, didn't you know? Why do you think Priderock is a symbol of power? Because a lot of animals died there; it's had a history as a place of execution for long before the kings settled there – but shh! We're trying to reverse that..."

"Phew... That's some heavy stuff, Zuzu... I knew Agathe was a tough lady, but..." The hyena cast a look at Priderock in the distance, starting to disappear in the darkness. Sure enough, the sight of it sent a shiver down his spine. "And that was the end of the water conflicts?"

"Not quite. Next thing that happened was making sure that all cheetah and leopard territories were separated – to make sure no-one was stuck in what would in effect be hostile territory. This took some persuading, sometimes violently. And then, the waterhole was made a non-territory, belonging to cheetah nor leopard. That worked out, and once the drought was over, things returned to normal. And as the "Water Conflict" faded out of memory, and the old generations passed away, they started mingling again... But it seems some vendettas haven't been put to rest quite yet..."

"Let's hope it doesn't have to come to something like the "Water conflict" ever again..." Sal mumbled, still impressed by what he'd heard.

"I guess that'll be up to us, won't it?"


End file.
